Vanessa Addison-Williams

Vanessa Addison-Williams was born in Monterey, CA and raised in the city of Seaside of the Monterey Peninsula. She moved to Fresno, CA in 2002 where she currently resides and teaches computer art and graphic design courses at Fresno State and Clovis Community College. She earned her BA in Graphic Design and MA in Studio Art from California State University, Fresno. Addison-Williams is also a retired veteran of the U.S. Air Force Reserve with 26 years of honorable service. She has showcased her works of art, crafts, and designs on various platforms, both locally and abroad, and she enjoys collaborating and curating creative cultural works of art that physically, mentally and spiritually enhance public spaces and enlightens the minds of those who visit them. More of her works can be viewed at www.vawcreative.com

I enjoy using creative techniques in collage and acrylic painting to explore the complexity of African American identity through history, and as it continues to evolve. My work draws inspiration from my own life experiences as well as a long tradition of African American artists such as Romare Bearden, Faith Ringgold and David Driskell who continue to inspire the art forms of collage and mixed media works with reimagined representations of Black peoples’ experiences in America.

Themes that I often use in my work are diverse familial relationships, the Black church experience, and as seen in my work in the "Us Reimagined" exhibition, African American movements, or cultural events in complex compositions. My conceptual approach to collaging materials is to treat them like elements of signifying language. Each scrap of newsprint, shred of magazine, fragment of color, paint, or fiber holds symbolic meaning and significance, building perceptions through layering to create works that address different aspects of contemporary urban life and identity.

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