Sian Williams grew up spending all her summers on the Gower Coast in Wales. As an only child, she has said that the sea, the seashore, and the rugged cliffs became a magical place within which she measured her journey from childhood to adulthood. The affinity with the sea continued into her adult life. She now spends most of the year living, with her Greek speaking husband, in a small cottage on the tiny Greek island of Anti-Paxos.
Her works reflect the childlike joy that people feel when on holiday. They are also a comment upon the effects of tourism on the culture and ecosystem of these small islands. They reflect the differing pressures upon these coastlines, to provide income - both by exploiting their natural beauty, but also by providing for traditional island industry.
She is interested in art as an expression of place. Sian’s works are documented in photograph and video because they are temporary, made with found objects on the seashore. Sometimes drawing in sand, or with charcoal on wood and rock, she works largely within the Land Art tradition. In her case the location is the fleeting area of tidal change on the island shore. Her desire to express the spirit of these places as a meeting of the ephemeral human presence with the implacable natural elements allowed her, as a visitor, to be placed within this new expression of Greek art.
She has exhibited works at the Boicos Gallery, Gaios, Paxos and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (EMST) as part of the “Genii Loci” exhibition: Greek Art from 1930 to the Present. Manege Central Exhibition Hall in St. Petersburg November 30 2016 – January 9 2017
The EMST described the exhibition in these terms". The main idea behind Genii Loci is to showcase important aspects of modern and contemporary Greek art, which are inextricably linked to the concept of place (locus) with its unique spirit (genus)-the divine elements which inhabit and protect every place, and its significance as an area of aesthetic, artistic and -in broader terms- cultural pursuit. " Most of her works in this exhibition are from the collection: Orchos 2016.
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