Paradigm Shifts: Beatrice Mady and Heather Williams presents compositions rooted in the enduring power of layers: layered imagery, textures and hues. Works on view make evident the shift that occurs when different mediums converge, whether it be digital and analog or pigment and found materials. For Beatrice Mady, the shift from digital image and composite painting forms the foundation of the compositions on view in the exhibition. In her work “Someplace Else,” the presence of repetitive motifs contrasts against a shifting color palette, providing the viewer with a concerto of mark-making and color balance. As the artist notes, the “spiritual state (latent in) dualistic elements” forms a point for shifts to occur in her works on view, ranging from photography to abstract painting. For Heather Williams, the shift in duality is present in foregrounding both, “spiritual legacy and my concerns for our environment and the well-being of Black people.” In her mixed-media work, “Black Hair is Legal Now,” the artist places pigment on the canvas along with locs of her hair, offering these strands a potent position of power encircling the center of the composition. The artist creates visual movement while referencing legal frameworks, such as the Crown Act, advanced in order to work against existing systemic racism. In her compositions, Williams incorporates – in her words – a “labyrinth of texture, movement and meaning.” The harmonious balance of dualities, their presence and absence, is potent throughout works on view in Paradigm Shifts.

Dualities remain present in our everyday lives, just as they are reflected in this exhibition. By considering the shifting poles we navigate in culture and society, we can better understand the worlds in which we inhabit, exist and co-mingle.

Beatrice Mady lives and works in Jersey City, NJ. She works in painting, digital art and mixed media. She holds an M.F.A. in painting from Pratt Institute and a B.F.A. from the University of Dayton. Her works are on view in museums such as the Dayton Art Institute, Museum of Friends, and Drew University Museum, and in corporate collections; Pfizer, Ortho Dermatological, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Johnson and Johnson, Sydney and Francis Lewis Foundation, and in private collections.

Heather Williams holds a Masters in Fine Art from the School of Visual Art, which she earned in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Her awards include the Paula Rhodes memorial award for exceptional achievement in MFA Art Practice. Her short film, Safe Passage, was awarded honorable mention at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Her residencies include EILEEN S. KAMINSKY FAMILY FOUNDATION (ESKFF) at Mana Contemporary, a Sustainable Arts Fellowship at Gallery Aferro, NJ and she is currently in residence at ArtCrawl Harlem at Governors Island, NY through August 1st. Williams was born in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She currently lives and works in New Jersey.