ABOUT THE WORK

Commissioned for the permanent collection of the International African American Museum, this large-scale installation by Williams expresses the relationship between Black identity and water through a language that is rhythmic, reflective, and transformative. The work responds directly to its architectural setting: a narrow hallway that limits traditional viewing distance. Rather than resist this constraint, Williams embraces it—inviting viewers to move alongside the piece as if carried by a current, engaging it in motion rather than from a fixed point.The primary structure is composed of lightweight steel sheets, patinated to a reddish-brown surface. The rusted material evokes the historic vernacular landscape of the Lowcountry—recalling weathered tin roofs, agricultural tools, and the passage of time. Etched into the surface is a pattern derived from azalea leaves, embedding a regional, organic rhythm within the industrial material.

Beneath the steel, blue mirrored plexiglass introduces a contrasting visual and conceptual layer. Its reflective surface captures the shifting, alluring qualities of water, refracting light and image. As viewers move through the space, their reflections appear fragmented and fluid—mirroring the experience of looking into a moving body of water and reinforcing the work’s themes of memory, presence, and transformation.

Water serves as a central and enduring element within the African and African American experience—from the western coast of Africa, through the Middle Passage, to the shores of South Carolina. It embodies renewal, purification, spiritual cleansing, and sustenance, linking past and present across generations.

Artwork Detials

Current, 2022
Patinated Steel and Mirrored Acrylic
344 x 66 x 2 | 873.8 × 167.6 × 5.1 cm

Acknowledgements

Fabrication & Installation Partner
Mantis Studios

Other Works in the collection

In 2023, the International African Museum, in Charleston, S.C. also acquired In Praise of a Sto’ Front Church, for its permanent collection. This artwork is displayed in the Gullah Geechee Gallery of the museum.