​Contemporary South African Art

David Williams, a self-taught artist of Ojibway descent from Garden River, Ontario, was born in 1947. 

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He moved to Vancouver in 1977 to work as a writer and photographer, but soon began to focus on his artwork, developing a distinctive, graphic, semi-abstract style. 

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David developed a very fresh and original style, combining fine graphic lines with elements of stark geometry, abstractness and realism, using bold vivid colors to depict life cycles in nature. The stylization of animal figures and the abstractness of their settings create a uniquely powerful quality. The fine lines, encircling and pulling together the elements of each painting, are meant to say; 'life goes in circles...life is simple.' 

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What motivated David was simple. He said, 'you will find that on the lines framing each painting there are usually four suns, three red and one little yellow one - those are my kids. I paint for them.' The three red suns represent his boys, while the yellow sun represents his daughter. 

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Williams most sought after paintings contain a colour washed background that was created after years of experimentation. The blue and gray 'washes' are the most difficult to create, often requiring more than five layers of paint in order to perfect the over-layering images. 

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His works are represented in the permanent collection of the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, the Shell Oil Corporation Collection, the Gulf Oil Corporation Collection, ESSO Corporation Collection and many others. Williams has been the recipient of grants from both the Canada Council and the Manitoba Arts Council. In 1987, the Metis National Council presented one of his works to Pope John-Paul at Fort Simpson, NWT.