Deborah McDuff Williams ’02 (Los Angeles, BA) is exhibiting her artwork in a solo show titled “Stolen Identities: River Routes to Freedom Collection.” The exhibition is on display from May 4 to August 4, 2023, at the Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties in Riverside, CA. “This is the culmination of years of artistic development,” she says, explaining that the artworks, which are social commentary art, embody her commitment to social justice.
Williams is a multi-talented artist whose training, extensive travel, and lived experience have provided her with the tools to reflect on life and society from a unique and highly textured perspective. Sensitive to waste, she frequently employs used, natural, or found objects and materials to visually communicate researched stories about the plight or achievements of the human experience. Influenced by African cosmology, history, and Williams’ love for wood and water, Stolen Identities amplifies enslaved Africans’ plans and routes for escape and freedom.
“Art is my way of expressing myself,” says Williams in a video interview for the show. “What I want to do is awaken people’s awareness to another’s plight in life. Not judgmentally, but in an intimate environment, so that they can either be healed or bring a greater understanding.”