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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – Shreveport artist Star Williams speaks to ArkLaTex Artistry’s Brittney Hazelton about her work, an upcoming show, and what sparked the creation of her iconic character, Zap Cat.
On August 29, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., the opening reception for Perspectives, an exhibition that will be held at the Meadows Museum of Art, 2911 Centenary Boulevard.
Amongst the artists in the exhibition is a well-known Shreveport old-style sci-fi painter, Star Williams.
“I’ve been painting my whole life, only in recent years did I really go public with my art,” says Star Williams. “People know me for my paintings that have a sci-fi influence. Specifically for a character I came up with, that I had no idea was gonna take off, Zap Cat.”
When it comes to the upcoming exhibition, Williams was pulled in by two collectors of hers who are hosting the show for artists whose work is in their collection.
“They are patrons of the art; they collect a lot of art. They wanted a show of artists they particularly like, that they collect,” says Williams, also explaining that she just finished a pet portrait for one of them.
Recently, Williams has been working a lot in digital.
“Yea, the digital is great. Especially if you find no space in your home, you can have it on, something that is on your computer, an iPad, that you can enjoy on. People can just enjoy it as a wallpaper or whatever. Without having space to hang it up,” says Williams.
Star grew up with the old sci-fi novels that explored outside of our little sphere in epic adventures into the great beyond. Those books and illustrations inspired the artist she is today.
“I really like that space fantasy, where you have different archetypes. You’re imagination just gets to explore. I’m always exploring ideas, philosophies and I love exploring just the imagination. I love science fiction for how it showcases the human imagination. I’m fascinated to know what might be out there in the cosmos, but I am even more fascinated to think about what the human mind does with that,” says Williams. “And that tells something about ourselves.”
From an early age, Williams was captivated by Star Trek and the idea that one day as a race, we could advance we could move beyond surviving and competing. With the common goal to explore and learn.
The character, Zapp Cat, is much like William’s own blue dog, a character famously painted by Cajun artist George Rodrigue. Zap grew quickly in popularity in the area and was based on William’s own cat.
Her Process
During her process, the idea comes to her like a vision, then she writes it down so she doesn’t lose it.
“There are times I don’t have that, but I just have a general feeling. I’ll just go sorta abstract for a while, then something emerges.
She paints mostly in acrylic, but also sometimes in oil and watercolor.
“I like to be able to layer the paint, acrylic helps with that. I don’t like to wait forever,” explains Williams.
Difficulties artists face
Once a user of Adobe, William’s has stopped using the company’s programs because of the company’s new terms that forces users to allow the art they create in programs like Photoshop to train Adobe’s AI.
When it comes to being an artist, Williams wishes people would stop using artists’ work without permission or trying to force us to give it away.
“Even before that, I would see some of my favorite artists works slapped on something on Temu. I still see that nonsense. It’s just straight stealing, our work always gets stolen. People don’t care. I wish I could get people to care,” says Williams.
“Well, I would rather get my stuff stolen. Then worry about it and stop creating. I will do what I can to not patronize,” says Williams.
How Zap Cat came to be?
It happened one summer, during a time when Williams was struggling. She was having issues at home and was facing mental health problems as well.
“I couldn’t create to save my life. I had a little canvas, a little 8×10 canvas. I was just staring at it, and eventually I just started crying. I was just like, I can’t think of anything. And, my husband, David was just like just do something easy. It doesn’t have to be good. I remember I just asked people on Facebook what I should paint. Somebody mentioned something about a cat, I think something about a third-eye cat. I was like, I don’t feel like doing a cat with three eyes, but I love cats. I can do a weird cat. I thought, Oh, I love aliens, of course. So, I just painted it; it was very simple, a sort of portrait of an alien cat, and it had this little string of UFOs behind it. A little alien cat with the little antennas,” explains Williams.
It brightened her mood a bit. She didn’t realize it would blow up like it did.
“Everyone was just like, wait, I want to see more of this character. Tell me about this character,” explains Williams about the community’s reaction to the new lovable character, which was influenced by her spicy black cat, Mini. “Zap Cat became representative of my more mischievous and whimsical side.”
Williams paints happy things to escape and get away when things are hard.
“The happier my art is, the more you know I’m suffering. It’s my escape. I get in my little UFO as a cat and I fly away. And, you know, I’m escaping from something when I’m painting all of that,” says Williams.
Find more of Star William’s work on her website at starwilliamsart.com/ or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/starrymite.
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