There is a lot to learn about Isaiah "Zay" Williams from one of his earliest pieces. It's a painting that riffs on the album cover for Notorious B.I.
G.'s debut record "Ready to Die," with a baby sitting down at front and center. The background is a vibrant shade of turquoise, the kind of bright colorway that defines most of the Rock Island artist's work.
In the baby's voluminous hair, which takes up a good chunk of the piece, there are nods to the things that matter most to Williams. Zay Williams talks through one of his earliest paintings, a spin on the Notorious B.I.
G. album cover for "Ready to Die." There's a University of Louisville mascot, as an homage to his Kentucky hometown before moving to the Quad-Cities as a pre-teen.
There's a book by Malcolm X, whose work Williams' mom introduced him to as a kid. Balancing delicately on the left side of the kid's hair is a Dragon Ball from the anime series "Dragon Ball Z"; on the floor by the baby's custom Nike high tops, there's a sheathed "Star Wars" lightsaber. A dollar represents financial literacy.
A microphone represents his pursuits as a spoken word artist. A little bit of everything is sort of Williams' motto. "I know a lot of artists have themes and gimmicks, but I feel like I'd box myself in if I did that," he said.
"There's a lot of artwork that doesn't get made because we have things we want to stay within, because that's your identity. I just want to do as much as I can." Williams has been working as a professional a.