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 artist for six years.
He's mostly self-taught, but did take a few classes at Black Hawk College. He works mostly with acrylic paints, but hopes to get more into mixed-media. Currently, Williams is able to pursue art full-time by selling his work online, turning his art into fashion and traveling to participate in arts galleries.
Just last month, he made a road trip to Atlanta to show his work at a fashion show. He was pleasantly surprised to learn the fashion brand Dior was there. The 29-year-old said he's always felt artistically inclined, but decided he wanted to take it seriously when he was in a high school art class and took on a portrait project.
Then, he decided to take a swing at painting the cover for the album "BIG" by soul singer Macy Gray. Around that time, Williams' new perspective on art emerged. Before that, Williams said he didn't see a lot of art he liked.
He loved the creativity in animation, television and film, but never thought about it as art. That was a term he assumed was reserved for Renaissance paintings and museum murals. "I think some of the artwork I really liked was the art I didn't know was art," he said.
"It wasn't really until I started seeing artwork in other places, or artwork by other Black men and women, that's what really inspired me." Williams described his style as a mix of sci-fi, realism and Afrocentrism. Bright colors are always at the forefront.
Zay Williams poses with some of his most recent pieces, including a piece inspired by "The Magic School Bus." At his Rock Island apartment complex, Williams assembled a display of his favorite works for our interview. At the center of it was a piece that combines a little bit of everything you'd expect from his work: 1990's nostalgia, sci-fi and Black culture.
It's a spin on the children's TV show "The Magic School Bus," with the main character, Ms. Frizzle, reimagined as a Black woman. Williams calls it "Ms.
Brizzle." He grew up watching the show, and still can't shake the episode where the class shrunk down to explore a student's anatomy. "That was crazy," he laughed.
"That's one of the episodes I'll never forget." He hopes that by making the art he's most passionate about, he can inspire others to pursue a career in creativity, too. "I definitely hope it's making a difference, especially to young people who might see the artwork and think, 'You know what, I want to make art, too,'" he said.
"That's the goal. To raise up other artists and creatives." Much of Williams' work comes back to entertainment.
He's a self-proclaimed "Star Wars" nerd, thanks to his dad. As part of his collection he chose to display for the interview, Williams brought out a painting of a scene from the movie "Creed" and a side portrait of "Smooth Operator" singer Sade. But he's also not afraid of making social statements.
One piece in the corner depicts a raised, handcuffed fist, a piece from earlier this year meant to represent mass incarceration of Black men in the U.S. His t-shirt, from Williams' own fashion line, reads "Your Mental Health Matters.
" Mental health is a big priority for Williams, who said he takes a few months off from art each year just to avoid burnout. In this 2020 file photo, Zay Williams poses with his custom t-shirts. One of the pieces he's proudest of in this display, though, is a portrait of the late Breasia Terrell, the 10-year-old from Davenport who was murdered in 2020.
He was inspired to make the piece while following Terrell's heartbreaking story. In the painting, her face contains galaxies. Her shirt shows a Davenport skyline with a silhouette of a women's hooper leaping for a dunk.
Outer space sits behind her, with "Space Jam"-esque planets and kaleidoscopic colors. "I just wanted to be as creative as possible to make it vibrant and show the brightness of her essence," he said. Williams said the average piece takes him a few days when he's feeling passionate.
Sometimes he paints in silence, in order to focus, but other times he paints to jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop. He has a goal of painting a Kendrick Lamar portrait in the near future. While he frequently travels to sell and promote his work, Williams doesn't have plans to leave the Quad-Cities any time soon.
He said he loves the QC for its diversity and admires the nature of the city and its history. Another piece on Williams' to-do list is one paying tribute to the 108th United States Colored Infantry Regiment, which fought for the Union in the Civil War. The regiment of Black soldiers was first organized in Louisville, and later based on the Rock Island Arsenal.
"I want to start doing more artwork that reflects the history here," Williams said. He also hopes to continue inspiring young artists. Williams said he'd love to see more outlets for local creatives to put their work on display in the Quad-Cities, and more accessible grants for emerging artists, too.
"There's a lot of talent out here," Williams said. "We just have to go about doing things differently, so we can have artists come out here and do their thing." Denny Allen, a retired farmer from Aurelia, creates roadside art from pieces of scrap iron.
Embur Rudolph lounges on her side while she cleans a paintbrush at the eighth annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest on Saturday in Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island. The event, which was hosted by Quad City Arts, brought together artists of all ages, offering $1,800 in cash prizes for the best sidewalk art. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest on Saturday in Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island.
Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island.
Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island.
Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island.
Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island.
Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island.
Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Scenes form the 8th Annual Quad Cities Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Riverfront Park on Saturday, June 22, in Rock Island. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Entertainment Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
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