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From the Northeast home where she grew up, Hadiya Williams creates. The local fine artist makes jewelry, dishes, and textiles that share West African-inspired motifs, and her work aims to honor her ancestors in the African diaspora. Some of her designs for wallpaper, blankets, and baby clothes have made their way onto shelves of major retailers such as Target, West Elm, and Schumacher. Handmade pieces are also for sale at local shops.
But it was just five years ago that Williams saw her art and creativity as more of a hobby, she tells City Paper contributor Tanya Paperny.
Paperny writes:
I first encountered the ceramic and fabric work of Hadiya Williams in 2018. For a show at Woodlawn, the Virginia plantation previously owned by George Washington and his family, seven Black artists were invited to make on-site installations. Furniture, tapestry, and sculpture by local artists directed the focus to the enslaved people who built the mansion and made life at Woodlawn possible. Their stories were otherwise largely absent from typical museum tours.
Williams, a decorative artist and designer, was assigned to rethink Woodlawn’s dining room, which she turned into a multidimensional altar in collaboration with local creator and educator Risikat Okedeyi. Fabric table settings and handmade ceramic plates sat alongside typed menus and place cards that included a written timeline of slavery at the property and the country at large. West African prints and a restrained palette of blacks, whites, and browns contrasted with the ornate pieces permanently installed in the early 1800s mansion. The room was a portal with dozens of carefully chosen details at eye level.
When I spoke with Williams back in 2018, she explained that she was not allowed to take down or cover the portraits of George and Martha Washington hanging above either end of the dining table. While she first saw this as a challenge, she later realized that her installation symbolically made the Washingtons look at and honor the people who prepared their meals but were never allowed to sit and eat in the home.
Though Williams seemed unsure about taking up space at the Woodlawn-hosted artist’s talk, her work has since taken off in huge ways: “The [Woodlawn] project was transformative and showed me the kind of work I wanted to do,” she tells City Paper. At the time, she worked full-time as a graphic designer and also sold stationery online, but saw herself as a hobbyist rather than part of the D.C. arts community.
To learn more about Williams, and her art, read Paperny’s full profile on our website. Williams is just one of the local artists featured in this year’s Fall Arts Guide, which is also packed with recommendations for stuff to do this season.
—Mitch Ryals (tips? mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)
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