1977, the year this
painting was made, was the
beginning of a transformational
period in Williams' work. It was
the year he first travelled to
Africa, as a US representative to
FESTAC '77. His experiences in
the villages, in the towns, and in
the countryside significantly
affected his outlook on life and
art. The cryptic title of this
painting may relate to a quote
from the diary of Emily Carr, one
of the most famous female
Canadian artists of the early
20th Century, who made her
reputation painting indigenous
subject matter in British
Columbia. In her diary, she
seemed to convey many of the
same experiences and feelings
Williams would later recall
having when he was in Africao,
writing, "I went no more then to
the far villages, but to the deep,
quiet woods near home where I
sat staring, staring, staring ~
half lost, learning a new
language or rather the same
language in a different dialect.
So still were the big woods
where I sat, sound might not yet
have been born. Slowly, slowly I
began to put feeble scratchings
and smudges of paint onto my
paper, returning home
disheartened, wondering,
waiting for the woods to say
something to me personally."