Winthrop University
McColl Center of Art & Innovation
"Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" references the vulnerability found at the moment a Black man is placed under arrest. In each painting, the hands serve as metaphor for the emotional state of both the figure being arrested and the arresting authority. Clenching, grasping, grabbing, or open in capitulation, each one lays bare the narrative specific to the individual. Both recent and historical events evidence that this continues to be a moment of deep angst for Black people who face arrest in this country.
Williams drew inspiration from Francisco Goya's The Disasters of War series and Gerhard Richter's "October 18, 1977. Both illustrate the worse of humanity within official government structures. Williams asks the viewer to understand the extreme anxiety people face when their government does not represent them and often denies their humanity within its systems.
Williams drew inspiration from Francisco Goya's The Disasters of War series and Gerhard Richter's "October 18, 1977. Both illustrate the worse of humanity within official government structures. Williams asks the viewer to understand the extreme anxiety people face when their government does not represent them and often denies their humanity within its systems.