Painting
Printmaking
re:pattern (2024)
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About
About
Living with a memory disorder, along with a family history of dementia and Alzheimer’s, profoundly influences Amadi's relationship with memory. To navigate this challenge, her family archive becomes essential for recalling and conveying narratives. When beginning a new painting, she often calls her grandmother to share stories that contextualize the figures being portrayed, enriching the work and anchoring memories in the narratives expressed.
She questions the truth of memory through abstraction,using geometric shapes to find a simple yet profound language that resonates with shared emotions. Thus creating an open space that invites viewers—especially family members—into a dialogue about their own feelings and recollections.
In addition to painting, Amadi explores storytelling through online resources such as data sites and public archives, focusing on underrepresented groups. Her practice involves various mediums in the pursuit of effective narrative conveyance. By engaging in roles like conservation fellow and curator, she aims to deepen understanding of the art world and create inclusive spaces that honor diverse histories. Ultimately, this work transforms memory into a visual language, fostering connections that bridge the past and present.
Amadi Williams b. 2002
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY
Education
Rhode Island School of Design
Solo Exhibitions
2021
2019
It Could Be One of Us, Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Group Exhibitions
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2016
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2016
New Contemporaries, Gelman Gallery, Providence RI
Senior Invitational, Woods Gerry, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI
Too Cool for School, Virtual Exhibition
Painting Senior Show, Woods Gerry, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI
BLK “Open to Interpretation”, Public Not Private, Providence, RI
BAAD X Carrhaus, Providence, RI
Landscape As, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Black Biennial, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
Re:pattern : a series of Installations, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence RI
Bank of America Black History Month Exhibition, Providence, RI
BAAD x Carrhaus, Providence, RI
Junior Show, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
There’s No Hope for Love in Rhode Island, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
BAAD x Carrhaus, Providence RI
Soup, who cares?, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
There’s No Hope for Love in Rhode Island, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Painting-A-Day 2022, Memorial Hall, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Black Arts Showcase Multiplicity, not Monolith: Locating the self Through Art, Leung Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI
Black Biennial, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: New York City Regional Exhibition, Virtual
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: New York City Regional Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Black@rts Virtual Show, Calhoun School, Virtual
Not From Around Here, Napa, CA
Art.Write.Now. The Best Teen Artist of 2019, Parsons School of Design, NY
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: New York City Regional Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Museum of Art, New York, NY
From Panel to Panel: Our Voices, Medialia Gallery, New York , NY
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2018
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2018
Becky Westcott Award
RISD Honors Designation
RISD Honors Designation
Herbert Claiborne Pell, III & Eugenia Diehl Pell Scholarship
RISD Honors Designation
Ken Dresser ‘61 Scholarship
RISD Honors Designation
RISD Honors Designation
Marjorie Oatman Scholarship For Visual Arts
Marjorie Oatman Scholarship For Visual Arts
Publications & Press
2025
2024
2022
2019
2024
2022
2019
Meet Amadi Williams, Canvas Rebels, Digital
Black Biennial 2024 A Second Exhibition showcases work by Black artist from RISD and Beyond, RISD Alumni Magazine Summer 2024
Student-Curated Black Biennial Breaks Down Walls Between RISD and the Community, Publicity Radio, Providence, RI
Sonder, a Sequel: A Short History of and Hopeful Future for the Black Biennial, Volume 1 , Spring 2025 Edition, Providence RI
RISD’s Student-Curated Black Biennial Focuses on Access and Community, RISD Website
Meet Amadi Williams / Multidisciplinary Artists & Students, Shoutout SoCal, Virtual
RISD exhibition The Black Biennial provids platform for Black experiences by Paige Davidson, The Architect’s Newspaper
RISD Black Biennial envelops the viewer with the work of nearly 80 artist by James Baumgarter, Public Radio, Providence, RI
RISD’s First Black Biennial Now on View, Rhode Island School of Design
Visual Art Stories, Packer Collegiate Institute, Virtual
Best Teen Artist of 2019, Scholastic
Packer Current Items (Cover photo), Packer Collegiate Institute, Brooklyn, NY