Dr. Antoinette Ellis-Williams
Dr. Antoinette Ellis-Williams is a visual artist and poet, scholar, activist, and minister. She is the author of “Black Gardenias: A Collection of Poems, Stories, & Sayings From A Woman’s Heart” (2013), and she is a playwright writer and a filmmaker. In 2017 Ellis-Williams had a solo exhibition at NJCU. She is a member of the board of trustees for the New Jersey Institute of Social Justice, Women@NJPAC, and a member of the Zonta Club of Essex.
Ellis-Williams’ work explores different aspects of the artist’s identity: race, gender, religion/faith, her role as mother and wife, etc. She states that her creative process stems from “layering, recycling, reimagining, and mixing methods” and includes commentary “on the textured lives of marginalized people”. The artist says that she creates her work “as a way of unpacking rage, pain, contradictions, beauty, agency, and joy constantly trying to understand the complex history and narrative of Blackness in the United States and Black diaspora.”
About her work in WOV II:
“Breathing Through Air” (2020) is a collage where three colorful silhouettes are juxtaposed with a neutral background. The vibrant composition is a composition in oranges, reds, and blues, is accompanied by the statement “God chose me to be a Black woman. / No greater honor than to walk in my skin.”
“I’m So Over Myself” is a free verse poem about the author and for herself. It is a reminder to avoid compromising her identity to please others (“I am pushing back against the / me I thought I should be”) and a revelation of her self-worth.
You can learn more about her at antoinetteelliswilliams.com