Kiyan Williams

Overview

Kiyan Williams (b. 1991) lives and works in New York. In Williams’ elemental works the weather is both protagonist and collaborator. Using distinct formal and material vocabularies that gesture toward the architectural, ecological, and corporeal, they make sculptures and installations appearing in states of suspended decay, alluding to both archeological ruins and speculative futures. Their practice is a meditation on the unruliness of ruination, the precarity and malleability of symbols and structures of power, how objects and the ideologies embedded within them are transformed and made anew by an entanglement of human and natural forces. For Williams haptic intimacy is a primary mode of encounter. Their tactile works foreground materiality, process, touch, transformation, and embodied presence.

Documents

Works

Kiyan Williams
earth and silver study, 1, 2024
Earth, silver, pigment on canvas, aluminum stretcher bars
48 x 36 in
121.9 x 91.4 cm
Kiyan Williams
Untitled (Collapsed Column), 2024
Steel, burlap, gypsum cement, earth, chrome, resin
59 x 57 x 15 3/4 in
149.9 x 144.8 x 40 cm
Kiyan Williams
A rupture / a break / a breaking / a break thru / a crack beneath the weight of it all, 2023
Steel tube, expanded steel, earth, binder, led lights
Overall: 73 x 76 x 6 in
185.4 x 193 x 15.2 cm
Two elements: 73 x 38 x 6 in each
185.4 x 96.5 x 15.2 cm
Kiyan Williams
Columbia Fallen From Grace, 2023
Rebar, steel mesh, earth, binder
22 x 25 x 14 1/2 in
55.9 x 63.5 x 36.8 cm
Kiyan Williams
Columns of Babylon, 2023
Steel rod, steel mesh, earth, binder, led lights
66 x 16 x 14 in each
167.6 x 40.6 x 35.6 cm
Kiyan Williams
Excavated Statue of Freedom Wearing A Liberty Cap, 2023
Hydrostone gypsum cement, earth, hard foam
30 x 24 x 22 in
76.2 x 61 x 55.9 cm
Kiyan Williams
Excavated Statue of Freedom Wearing a War Helmet, 2023
Hydrostone gypsum cement, earth, hard foam
28 x 20 x 20 in
71.1 x 50.8 x 50.8 cm
Kiyan Williams
Re/framing Power, 2023
C-print on Baryta paper, white matte
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Framed: 12 1/4 x 9 5/8 in
31.1 x 24.4 cm
Edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof
Kiyan Williams
Reinscribing Power, 2023
C-print on Baryta paper, white matte
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Framed: 12 1/4 x 9 5/8 in
31.1 x 24.4 cm
Edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof
Kiyan Williams
Returning the Gaze, Evading Capture, 2023
C-print on Baryta paper, white matte
11 x 8 1/2 in
27.9 x 21.6 cm
Framed: 12 1/4 x 9 5/8 in
31.1 x 24.4 cm
Edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof
Kiyan Williams
Fried and Suspended Flag, 2022
Nylon flag, adobo, anise, cardamom, crushed red pepper flakes, chili powder, eggs, flour, hawaij, jerk rub, seasoning salt, sazón, smoked cocoa, scotch bonnet, oregano, paprika, turmeric, sumac, acrylic varnish
72 x 38 x 6 in
182.9 x 96.5 x 15.2 cm
Kiyan Williams
Pig Roast, 2021
Color video with sound
4 minutes 5 seconds, loop
Edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof