When Yvonne D. WIlliams was very young dominos fascinated her. Not the game, but the practice of arranging the pieces, one in front of the other, as they snaked across the floor. She enjoyed the creative endeavor of the many different patterns and connections that she could assemble. But the moment of truth that captured her attention, was when, with just a tap from a finger the pieces would gently and systematically spill over one another. Action and reaction - nothing remains passive or unaffected.
Yvonne was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and now lives in (while renovating) a 1888 Victorian in San Francisco with her husband. While continuing to create my art images and pursue her commercial work, she is an adjunct professor of photography at San Jose State University.
About the image to the right: Paper or Plastic, 2007
We are in serious times. Perhaps every generation has felt this way. It does appear, however, that the problems in front of us are no longer experienced strictly by a particular people in or of a particular community by region, nor country, but by continents. We are a global community today and, I suppose we have always been—although naïve that our actions could reverberate so far. I, in particular, never realized to what extent my choices could be problematic for another.
This work is about choices. We have them. But they are not so clearly defined. Many of the solutions, while seemingly viable are merely placing a band aid on a gaping wound. And I wish I had the answers, but I do not. Each time I try to make good eco conscious, human awareness, and economical sensitive choices I stumble into another problem. There more I read about the environment and learn about the destruction we have done to our waters, lands, and air, the more I learn about working and living conditions for people across our globe and the economical separation of classes. We are in serious times.
This work is about choices. We still have them. But they are not so clearly defined.