Bayou creatures enliven Commons

    “Birds”  made  from  plaster  and  women’s underwear fly through the air  as a bright red swag of fabric sweeps  across the room and into a pile of beans.  A “Sweater Monster” sits perched on  a pedestal, waiting to pounce, while a  sparkly, black mesh pregnant alligator  curls toward the sky.   

    Senior sculpture major Jordi Williams’  show, “Bayou Gods,” opened Aug. 27  at the University Student Commons  Student Art Space. Her inventive black-,  white- and red-themed creatures breathe  life into the usually stagnant air of the  small gallery. 

    Williams said she sees all the pieces  in this exhibit as spirit animals from a  bayou, translated from a dream world into  creatures never seen before on earth.

    “I could see them all living in the  same place,” Williams said.

    When  asked  about  choosing  her  work materials, she gestured to one of  the many suspended pieces. This one,  titled “Honey Catches More Flies,” is a  knitted white and red nest-like creation  made out of saran wrap, feathers, yarn,  thread and fishing weights.

    “I wanted to make it soft, yet threatening,” Williams said of the pointy, red  feathers woven through and sticking out  of the yarn circle. 

    For this show’s pieces Williams has  used many different media, materials  and textiles. In addition to yarn, panties  and feathers, she utilized steel, fabric,  ceramic, plaster, paper, buttons, sand  and sweaters in her work. She said she  enjoys working with plaster because it  molds and dries quickly.

     The collection comprises the work  she’s created over the past two or three  years. This is Williams’ first solo show,  but she also currently has two pieces in  the Virginia Artists 2007 Juried Exhibition at the Charles H. Taylor Arts Center  in Hampton. One of her pieces was also  on display this summer at the Radius  250 show at ArtSpace. 

    She applied for the chance to have  a show in the Student Art Space this  past spring, she said, and is delighted  she was chosen to be the first show of  the semester. The school only accepts  show proposals for the gallery once a  semester.  

    “Although the creatures I make come  directly from the world of my childhood  imaginings, they are more self-sufficient  than anything I can imagine now. They  directly express the independence I so  ardently desire,” Williams said in an April  artist’s statement. “My environments are  often empty because my attention is  the only life they need to contain. My  creatures often stand alone because they  no longer need a womb to survive.”

    Her show is on display until Sept. 7.