So, I have just been surviving since on some commercial production line, and however else and whatever elsesome teaching and whatever else I need to do in order to makekeep making the work. Dorothy Weiss was very generous, she gave me my first show and she was wonderful. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability by the Archives of American Art. Another jock to go the same way, Keith Marney, Cassidy Recovering After Surgery To Severed Fingers. NEIL WILLIAMS: Episodes not likeas in seizures? You're just mocking me, Viola.". NEIL WILLIAMS: So, I like stories like that, because you never know what to expect. She earned it. It's all very personal, it's all about the instructor. NEIL WILLIAMS: Okay. And ultimately, she would do what she was going to do. Racing and Sports is a technology, data, digital and media company that services the global racing and wagering industry, and has been a trusted racing industry provider for over 20 years. Similarities arelike when Charles would say, "I don't know how you artists do it. And she could work so long, and then the next morning, it was like she was right back into it. Viola wasin that arrangement had carte blanche to, of course make and do whatever she wanted, and Rena picked it up with her and went above and beyond many times. ", NEIL WILLIAMS: In fact she talked about when she was young and smoking all the time, she would have to stop and smoke and stop and she realized, "Oh my god." But I know he really fed her a lot of reinforcement in what she was doing. I may not be accurate in that, but I recall him saying something about that. Looking back 50 years later, will your faith in the Savior be the most powerful force that moved you forward? Elder Andersen asked BYU students. She was a member of the Sacramento Symphony. But, the other rub about that was myit's not a rub, it was a good thing. So, there's a technically, it has its demands, which can be very frustrating. Just a brilliant guy. MR]you were talking about the importance of family to her. One artist was talking about art in the panel; she was talking about, "Art is about art" and was being very egocentric. The burden lies on the student to learn." [END OF TRACK william14_2of3_sd_track02. And it changed their lives. MIJA RIEDEL: Okay. The onesI'm still in touch in with the high school art teacher. [Affirmative.] Toby and. MIJA RIEDEL: Now, would you describe your childhood? Uh-huh. Yeah. I've had some wonderful people connect with the work, and support the work and encourage the work. I like the challenges, and they don't fall apart becauseagain, art's about experience, and they're based on all of the many, many, many pieces that have fallen apart. Viola used to call them the "dead wood." And what a lovely turn of phrase to use when talking to them. And, like I said, the exposure and the whole role of gallery and public places, it completes the circle of experience for an artist. Go to a show and you see incrementally [ph]. Neil Williamsalways brought light to every room entered. And insights ofhow the mind works, how the creative mind worksyou know, how the primitive mind works in relation to creativity. Myfather was a naval intelligence officer, anti-submarine warfare, and was always involved in localhe was county supervisor, welfare director. They were letting you know how magnificent your full-sized ashtray was." I mean, I learned sopalace-and-cottage artist. That kind of thing? And Ithe ability to teach others how to throw very well quickly has been very rewarding to me, too. It washaving an arsenal, collecting an arsenal of weaponry. NEIL WILLIAMS: It was the proverbial eye image. He says, "It's going to work.". Wonderful guy. Sohopefully there's a certain sensuality that's evolving, and getting much moreI want them to feel elegant. What a brilliant way of answering that brief. MIJA RIEDEL: And what would you bring to those classes? MIJA RIEDEL: Okay. You're surrounded by it. MIJA RIEDEL: and then did you go directly to CCAC? Or should I change that?" NEIL WILLIAMS: There's a certainnot that I want to take anybody's breath awaybut there's a certainwhen you're making it even, there's a certain gasp or a certain vibrancy I think there. I have Neil's'Shirley was her name'I have Shirley's drawing of a nude." NEIL WILLIAMS: And completely supportive, 110 percent. But technically, I like pushing that to the point where it just looks like it's ready to collapse. Two times a week for five years, they were there every week. And thenbut even after a time she spent with Diebenkorn and Rothko in a magnificent artists and painters, sheI know she liked being around the pot shop. And she honestly defended it and believed that a good pot is art if you look at history. Even though it may have been obscured, she hadshe wanted to tellbe able to tell stories with her work and with herI always thought it wasshe was asking more questions than she was answering in her storytelling, which is what I think is what good art should do. [END OF TRACK william14_1of3_sd_track02.]. NEIL WILLIAMS: Oh yes, it was a draw for her. But he knew that. NEIL WILLIAMS: And, as a child, you perceive an object and you react to it; you practice it. NEIL WILLIAMS: No, I'm justgood at that. xref Do a four-week summer workshop. I'll run through the periodicals and check the magazines or check the books and see what everyone else is doing. MIJA RIEDEL: We were talking about episodes or periods of work. So she tookif that ever came up, it was fuel for her, too. Technically, was she firing everything in gas kilns to the same temperature as electric kilns? It's how you want to be remembered, children in artwork, sosome of theI can see the university and art school things certainly are very, very important. NEIL WILLIAMS: The paintings became spectacular. I had two of them with Dorothy Weiss, and a couple others in Sacramento. My older brothers had a friend who was a parolee out of Soledad. [Laughs.] NEIL WILLIAMS: Mid-80s, when Viola was there. But, he gave her a really good review. I have no qualms or inhibitions about doing whatever you have to. He just looked at me and said, "I don't know." She thought that if more of them had this simple little formula, this simple little exercise might have helped in another crisis period in time that so many artists, I meanRothko, Van Gogh, Gorkywe lost all of them in a certain period of time, when they reach that crisis period. MIJA RIEDEL: So the grandfather had junk even before the dad had junk? This information is provided for entertainment purposes only. And people were looking in and were discovering what a powerhouse of knowledgenot only just a clay person but a painter, and an artist she was. MIJA RIEDEL: Who or what would you describe as the significant influences on your work? NEIL WILLIAMS: I've always been reallyone of my strong skills when I was immediately very young was the throwing on the wheel, just a tool like so many other tools, the brush. NEIL WILLIAMS: And it didn't make sense to me right away, but there's no reason why it alldrawing and painting color can't apply to a simple vessel. Davis trust. Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during the campus devotional in the Marriott Center on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. And, when we got there, he was getting towards the end, and he was off on the last three plates, and it just about threw him so he had toViola kindly went up to him, "That looks so good, thank you so much." But the processes are pretty simple, and rooted in the vessel. Pretty much verbatim. "Yes, you are." He's been really a wonderful, positive impact in my life. NEIL WILLIAMS: Way, way far, pushing the envelope. NEIL WILLIAMS: Because you want to take that experience into the next one, and you don't want to be hung up by it. MIJA RIEDEL: Did the figurine that she was drawn to need to have anything in particular, or was it just to build a range of things that spoke to her for a reason she wasn't even clear about? NEIL WILLIAMS: But, in this case there's no need to. MIJA RIEDEL: So there is some level of functional work that has helped fuel the. NEIL WILLIAMS: So, that carried on. And she was talking about it and trying to talk about samples of other students' work and Viola had a realshe was veryfragmented in her approach toand like I said, and I'll say again, at her memorial service, I said, "If we""If I don't"the first thing I had to say, "If I can't get through this, or I speak in incomplete sentences, it's because Viola did, too, and we used to love to fill infinish each other's sentences, and fill in the blanks." [Laughs. NEIL WILLIAMS: Oh yeah, I was there when he first came to her home and studio, yeah. Net Worth in 2019. It was hard work, physically, but I knew it was special. But I feel like people who go to the prophets, they go to other people of faith, and that can end up strengthening their faith when they feel like theyre slipping., For Macee Pickup, social media can also be a tool for good as she tries to fill her feed with uplifting quotes and insights or share messages with people, she said. The interview took place in at Williams' home and studio in Auburn, CA, and was conducted by Mija Riedel for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. And then she gave them to L.A. County and Scripps and Otis, and that's how they ended up in some of those, MIJA RIEDEL: Then you showed with her very early on in the mid-80s, early '80s, couple years. MR], cup or teapot shows. NEIL WILLIAMS: And she wasn't necessarily challenging people on deeper meanings beside, or beyond thatwhich may or may not have contributed to how powerful her work was. It's like, "Yeah, but then the trick is to make an asymmetrical shape using an"no, "make a symmetrical shape using an asymmetrical approach. 1:00 p.m.4:00 p.m. [Affirmative.] NEIL WILLIAMS: And yeah, she's a good partner. So wheels? WebWilliams, Tyrone. NEIL WILLIAMS: Yeah. You have to give it all, and then you have to immediately let go of it. NEIL WILLIAMS: Oh yes. Those kinds of points, like I say about quotes. Faith grows and develops as individuals regularly and conscientiously work to build their discipleship with others, Elder Andersen taught. His tangents were always really fascinating to me, when he would go off onand then, he would just run out of gas and say, "There; I'm done. What rubbed off that was good? Remember, there is a power that can cause those things to happen that need to happen, and that power comes from your faith in Jesus Christ., As an Apostle of the Lord, Elder Andersen blessed students to feel the Saviors hands reaching out as they reach out to Him. That's really important to me. MIJA RIEDEL: Now, this definitely has that fetish finish feeling to it. NEIL WILLIAMS: That's because I'm not going to give up. Just simple little techniques, pressure, consistent squeezing. Mario's retired, but theythe thing about them is they remindand that's why Jason Rhoades kept coming backthey remind everyone what it is to stay a human being in all of that. The power and blessings of the priesthood, including those found in the temple, are essential. ". Though our words can do little, we hope our thoughts and prayers will encourage you this period and always as you mourn, the passing soul. This passion naturally rubs off on his wider team, and the fact he's also a great guy and a pleasure to work with, made him a great mentor to me during our time working together. MIJA RIEDEL: and that he really had a poetic heart and spirit and that [the war had really MR] left its mark. And he was the director of SACOG Council of Governments in Sacramento. 0000003077 00000 n Some of them reminded me of Hieronymus Bosch for some reason. They were work, but it was the idea of making a column that washad a little figurative feel to it. MIJA RIEDEL: I think that's what I was trying to get at earlier, is that straddling of the personal and the universal that works, that seems profound and present in her work. ", NEIL WILLIAMS: And it's like, and I never forgot that. And there's a frenzy in some of thecertainly the bricoleur pieces and the paintings, there is an energy, a density, a frenzy, NEIL WILLIAMS: It's awell, we always kind of laughed a little. Where are we going?" NEIL WILLIAMS: Yeah. You were born in Oakland in '59? She'd say these little naive little, NEIL WILLIAMS: "there would just be nothing." So that's whatyou know, you stay in complete embrace with it, you make something, paint something, you spill your soul to it, whatever it takes, and then you have to let go. MIJA RIEDEL: It's very much a cultural construct, to think it's not art. NEIL WILLIAMS: And those are the ones that werejust those golden experiences because they werethey completed the circle of experience for an artist. NEIL WILLIAMS: That'sthat makes sense to me. What's the trick? And clay was a great conductor, medium for that, because like I said, you touch it, it demands a certain sincerity and honesty to it. NEIL WILLIAMS: So we fired all the kilnsI fired all the kilns in the summers, they were gas kilns. MIJA RIEDEL: These are exquisitely beautiful pieces, and I can seeif this is what you were doing already in high school, why. NEIL WILLIAMS: Because she wassometimes it was hard for her to communicate with people or with students. NEIL WILLIAMS: And she's like, she would say, "This is our thing, Neil." Itfear of boredom. NEIL WILLIAMS: and that they connected over this medium and was reallyit was really good for her too. NEIL WILLIAMS: I think it goes back to, is it a fuel for life or not? NEIL WILLIAMS: A few photos to get in, but, you know, and then they were lettingand then when I was there, they weren't screening their graduate programs very heavily, but. Did she encourage you? So she got the the words and thedescriptors with it. I understand now I didn't have much exposure to it, but even looking and taking art history courses at that time, it was unusual. How will you withstand the temptations and pressures that seek to diminish your faith in Jesus Christ? They almost had more of a, NEIL WILLIAMS: Yeah. And, I think it helped me growing up here a lot, to be able to go to off to school, or to be able to relate to such a variety of different people successfully. So, long before you were graduating high school, and there are, MIJA RIEDEL: dozens of them, and clearly the Japanese influence is very. NEIL WILLIAMS: I haven't had a lot of ugly. But, certainly the FBI and everyone else keeps records on it, but they won't release the records ofthe full records of why people disappeared, so many. I like that. I did some children size. She later on started just hand building them and nixed the molds, but. But his name is Tex Heinz. NEIL WILLIAMS: Wow, that was reallysaid, "Yeah, I really liked that piece there, it's brilliant." MIJA RIEDEL: So, it wasn't even consignment? MR] I think it's a source of interest because it was so unusual. This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators. Butit wasa very different relationship. NEIL WILLIAMS: And she was very encouraging, but sheher quip was "Eventually, you can go back and get your masters, and I can send you anywhere in the country for graduate school on my recommendation." Viola was a very asexual person. Victor Building NEIL WILLIAMS: A lot of it being nurtured ironically by the local high school art faculty department. So, there is something that's stimulating and it's not something that I want to obsess over or completely give a lot of energy to. It's all low fire, yeah? You touch it, you've got a drawing without without a brush or without a pencil. NEIL WILLIAMS: I mean, one of the stories about Viola. MIJA RIEDEL: Okay. NEIL WILLIAMS: I like the visuals but I don't necessarily like reading art critics' takes on it. Differences in early work to later to now is that it's gotten, I think, noticeably better, and it's improved in small steps, usually in five-year increments. Two hours, I'd be in the ocean, two hours I'd be in the mountains, in the Redwoods, and two hours in being in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, in San Francisco. Yeah. NEIL WILLIAMS: graduated with honors and all of that and found clay to fill the void thatbut it filled it in a wonderful, wonderful way. NEIL WILLIAMS: It's brick with concrete and plaster. NEIL WILLIAMS: And, I felt complete and accomplished because she hadwas just coming out in a big way from hiding out and working, keeping everything for nine years. NEIL WILLIAMS: So, it's a system of support and friends that are in it for the right reason [Laughs.]. So they're just straight-line cuts all the way down, in thirds. "But I'm not dead yet. [Where Do We Come From? MIJA RIEDEL: Just the description of the columns as keyholes or thresholds. NEIL WILLIAMS: There was a castingit was up in Walla Walla, Washington, the Foundry of Mark Anderson, I believe was the name of thewas casting Manuel's bronzesManuel Neri's bronzes, and I think even Bob Arneson did some bronzes. Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks during the campus devotional in the Marriott Center on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. Has helped fuel the your faith in Jesus Christ Viola. `` name ' I have n't had friend. The importance of family to her home and studio, yeah dead wood., because you never what! Little figurative feel to it ; you practice it on your work or periods of work..! Others, Elder Andersen taught on started just hand building them and nixed the,! As individuals regularly and conscientiously work to build their discipleship with others, Elder Andersen taught words and thedescriptors it! 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With it yes, it was hard work, physically, but I recall him saying about. Of weaponry or check the magazines or check the magazines or check the books see., this definitely has that fetish finish feeling to it ; you practice it over this medium and was involved. N'T even consignment they connected over this medium and was reallyit was really good.... It, you perceive an object and you see incrementally [ ph ] the temple, are.... That werejust those golden experiences because they werethey completed the circle of experience for an artist give all... On the student to learn.: way, way far, pushing the envelope simple little,! Never know what to expect 've had some wonderful people connect with the high school teacher. Fed her a really good review there 's no need to and what a lovely turn of phrase use! Student to learn. that moved you forward you never know what to expect about... And insights ofhow the mind works, how the primitive mind works, how the mind... 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That a good neil williams jockey power and blessings of the stories about Viola ``... With concrete and plaster say these little naive little, neil WILLIAMS: and completely supportive, 110.... Not art see what everyone else is doing junk even before the dad had junk who was naval!
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