Kara Williams
Artist Statement

I work in oil because I love the pliant, yet difficult nature of the medium, it keeps me interested.  Images function as a visual repository for the symbolic narrative in my mind.  The more I paint, the more the language defines itself and becomes increasingly articulate.  Like the cycles in a shamanic village, the costumes and fetishes of symbol imbued with elemental energy synthesize in and are purged from my psyche.

The physical process of working in an age-old medium, the friendly archaic quality to it,  the alchemy of the material combinations, and the smells of oil paint are comforting to me-- something tangible I can touch in an electronic age. 
Figures make up the bulk of my oeuvre, specifically, myself and the people who are closest to me, I am fascinated with the dynamics of relationships and psychology. I like delving into the depths of motivation, emotion and subconscious impulses, in paint, through gesture and costume brings out an aspect of a figure’s personality.

Yet I don’t always tell the truth, far from it, I often stray into the realms of fiction, archetype and stereotype, paradox etc.  My figures are often exposed and open, but just as often they are masked, or their very aspect that is revealed conceals their true nature.   I like to keep a strong sense of contradiction and ambiguity in my work, to leave the interpretation open to the viewer, it helps retain the mystery.

Technically, I use several methods to make my images, but most importantly, I feel compelled to synthesize my own images for source material. In order for the images to have the most power, I need to have a strong connection to them.. I take my own photographs and orchestrate a mock theatrical to get the image I want.  Then I often use collage techniques, different elements for background and figure, other times supplementing the base image with invented or borrowed pictures from art history or internet. 

I am often asked where I get the ideas for my paintings.  Elements of the picture come to me sometimes in dreams, or in fantasies of exaggerated realities based on some part of the emotional or essential truth.  Other times, an idea about someone or something comes to me through free association, when I focus my gaze on a particular, first the symbols come—then the composition, the pose or gesture, number of figures, etc. Later come the colours, light, details.  These often very personal images are made more universal with archetypes or mythological associations. 
Thematically, I experiment with notions of the symbolism in sexuality, ego and identity, self and other, voyeurism and the nature of looking.