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Herb Williams
is a fine-art sculptor. Instead
of working with a chisel and mallet, he shapes, cuts, and models
crayons using dog toe-nail clippers and cigar guillotines.
Williams is one of the only individuals in the world with an
account with Crayola. His original sculptures may require as
many as hundreds of thousands of individual crayons. Williams
used more than half a million Crayola crayons in creating his
sculptures for this installation which opens September 17th
at the Great Neck Arts Center. A meet the artist party will be
held on September 23rd. Children and adults will be
amazed and delighted in the images he creates.
 Williams
is interested in identifying iconic objects that society
perceives to fit one role, and then reintroducing them in
different subtexts. Williams explains, “There are several
questions that arise when an object (such as a crayon) that is
so often associated with childhood is used to address issues
dealing with more adult matters, such as sexuality, religion,
and social hierarchy. The sculptures are childlike in their
curious approach to the object as icon, but intriguing and
satisfying to me in the use of pure color as form.” The viewer
must look carefully to appreciate its complexity. Williams'
intent is to continue to seriously create art that looks at
itself un-seriously. He also casts completed crayon sculptures
in a silicone jacket mold with a two-part epoxy resin and then
paints the resin sculpture to look like the original,
occasionally producing a small edition. The cast sculptures have
been placed in public arenas, such as children’s hospitals,
corporate lobbies, and museum walls.
Williams’ studio in Nashville is
lined with endless rows of Crayola crayons of every color and
size. His studio has been described like “a day-care center
because it smells like a kindergarten.” His larger room
installations also add the element of playing to the olfactory
sense, as the scent of the wax completely saturates the
environment.
His new crayon exhibition,
"Schooled", will open at the Children's Museum of Art in
Manhattan in October, running simultaneously with the Great Neck
Arts Center installation.
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