About hermonie

Baltimore City

Hermonie bb (née Hermonie “only” Williams) is a multidisciplinary artist who makes hybrid works using photographs of her sculpture to create comprehensive visualizations of abstract concepts. Williams’ graphite drawings are expertly drafted using simple geometric forms and gradients to craft dichotomous forces in a graphic narrative.


She has exhibited in solo exhibitions at more

Big Deal

Big Deal was a conceptual installation based on Dramatism, the brand of literary theory touted by Kenneth Burke in his 1945 book "A Grammar of Motives". The artist utilized Burke's "Dramatist Pentad" strategy of finding meaning in a text and expanded this strategy into the abstract, finding meaning in combinations of the following elements: act, scene, agent, agency, and purpose. These five components were used to reference the five major points of the human body. The repeated use of the number 5 and other symbols such as the cross, triangles, and dodecahedra, lend an air of mysticism. The artist made intentional use of the stark language of Modernism to articulate her passion for objectification and authority.
  • Installation View 1
    Installation View 1
    WORKS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: HALF RED : tempera on wallpaper - 2'x3' each, NOVELTY SCULPTURE GROUP A : (see detail), BLACK DODECAHEDRA 1 : concrete - height 18", PENTAGON BLACK 1 : wood - height 36", NOVELTY SCULPTURE GROUP B : (see detail), FLAG BLACK FLAG WHITE : vinyl - height 6', BLACK CUBE 1 : wood - 2'x2'x2', PENTAGON BLACK 2 : wood - height 36", BLACK X RED HALF : tempera on wallpaper framed - 11"x14" each, IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD AND THE WORD WAS GOD : wood - height 6'.
  • Installation View 2
    Installation View 2
  • Installation View 3
    Installation View 3
    WORKS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT : BLACK DODECAHEDRA 2 : concrete - height 18", BLACK CUBE 2 : wood - 2'x2'x2', IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD AND THE WORD WAS GOD : wood - height 6', XXX (red crosses along the wall, between doors) : wood - 4'x8', BLACK CUBE 1 : wood - 2'x2'x2', BLACK DODECAHEDRA 1 : concrete - height 18", RED : enamel paint - 6'x2', BLUE : blue tempera - 2'X2'
  • Installation View 4
    Installation View 4
  • Installation View 5
    Installation View 5
  • Novelty Sculpture Group B
    Novelty Sculpture Group B
    LEFT TO RIGHT : BLACK DODECAHEDRA : cardboard and vinyl - height 10", WHITE TETRAHEDRON : plexiglass and vinyl - height 8", WHITE TETRAHEDRON : plexiglass and vinyl, height 8", RED TETRAHEDRON : plexiglass and vinyl, height 8", YELLOW TETRAHEDRON : plexiglass and vinyl, height 8". Similarly to NOVELTY SCULPTURE GROUP A, GROUP B is a display of objects with reduced elevation to create a physical and psychological distance from the viewer, however, unlike GROUP A, GROUP B has more intrinsic significance. The geometry is derived from the "Timeaus", Plato's 360 b.c. treatise on the sacred formation of the universe. The dodecahedron represents the shape of the cosmos while the tetrahedron embodies fire.
  • Black Dodecahedra
    Black Dodecahedra
  • Novelty Sculpture Group A
    Novelty Sculpture Group A
    LEFT TO RIGHT : concrete, charcoal, clay, plastic, rubber, wood, pizza. NOVELTY SCULPTURE GROUP A is a collection of objects displayed on a shelf 6 inches from the ground. The elevation is meant to diminish any contact one could have with the objects while their isolation further objectifies them. Their significance to each other is due to proximity and not to any intrinsic property. This is an invitation for one to consider her proximity and significance to those around her.
  • Big Deal with Notes
    Big Deal with Notes
  • Red & Yellow, Black & White
    Red & Yellow, Black & White

Some What

Some What was a Minimalist exhibition of paintings and altered photographs produced during a four week residency at the Lobot studios in Oakland, California. A limited palate of shapes and colors built a dramatic contrast between the object of the painting and the enveloping emptiness of the gallery. The artist invests her design and installation skills into creating a monastic environment imbued with an undercurrent of isolation and anxiety.
  • Some What
    Some What
    Tempera and gouache paintings on a curved wall; various sizes.
  • Some What
    Some What
    Tempera and gouache paintings on paper; various sizes.
  • Some What
    Some What
    Tempera and gouache paintings on a curved wall; various sizes.
  • Some What
    Some What
    Installation view of "Lean, 2", wooden sculpture in the foreground. Tempera and gouache paintings on a curved wall behind the sculpture.
  • Blue Tip Black Stab
    Blue Tip Black Stab
    Gouache on paper. 2 x 12 x 20 in.
  • Untitled
    Untitled
    Tempera and gouache. 24 x 18 in.
  • Red Tip Black Stab
    Red Tip Black Stab
    Gouache on paper; cut out. 2 x 12 x 20 in.
  • Nice Nice
    Nice Nice
    Tempera and Gouache on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Untitled (detail)
    Untitled (detail)
    Tempera and gouache on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Fault
    Fault
    Altered photograph. 32 x 14 in.

HER,M.

A selection of work from a series of paintings and sculpture studying the cube.

"This series is an experiment in creating a "perfect" image - the hypothesis being that such a thing can exist. I started using cubes in my work while studying the Dramatist Pentad and the number 5's association with the cube in Platonic geometry (cube = earth). While researching the word HERM (a bust on a four sided pillar or a squared off rock, as some of the first altars were) I've begun to associate with the cube on a personal level."

- Hermonie, only. December 2011
  • Monoplinth
    Monoplinth
    Ink and tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Plinth Scatter
    Plinth Scatter
    Ink and tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Quadriplinth
    Quadriplinth
    Ink and tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Perfection Models
    Perfection Models
    Sketchbook drawings. Graphite on paper. 8.5 x 11 in.
  • 7
    7
    Graphite on paper. 16.5 x 22 in.
  • 6
    6
    Graphite on paper. 16.5 x 22 in.
  • 5
    5
    Graphite on paper. 16.5 x 22 in.
  • 4
    4
    Graphite on paper. 16.5 x 22 in.
  • Phonetic Landscape Number One With Three Keys
    Phonetic Landscape Number One With Three Keys
    Visitors posing with Phonetic Landscape... at the Baker Artist Awards exhibition closing at the BMA, October 2011.
  • Phonetic Landscape Number One With Three Keys
    Phonetic Landscape Number One With Three Keys
    Wall painting with plywood structure. 18'10'' x 14'. "There is a suggestion of uncertainty and dread in this piece that speaks through the predictability of the geometry used. The landscape referred to in the title is the repeating cube pattern on the wall. The cube is used in reference to the elemental property of the platonic solid representing Earth. This painting was designed to be symbolically grounding but visually destabilizing; It is a study in the congruency of the opposing perceptual states of stability and instability. The phonetic direction originates from my discontinued use of words in paintings. I stopped using words in the studio because the path of least resistance between the abstractness of an idea and the concreteness of a representation can not be bridged with language. The more I depended on language the more of an accessory words became; There was no way to magnify the hidden framework in the words themselves that would make them any more transparent, graspable - laid bare under the blanket of human perception. This is why my use of the platonic solids has been so consistent for the past year; Geometry is just as ornamental as language but less self-conscious. The three "keys" are meant to set the tone of the composition; They are the grounding elements within an exquisite reverb. I used the word "key" to invoke a pitch as well as the visual of an instrument that opens or closes space; A revealing and concealing tool." - Hermonie, only. October 2011

Selected Paintings

  • Plane 2 Cold
    Plane 2 Cold
    Tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Plane 1 Warm
    Plane 1 Warm
    Tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Congruency (detail)
    Congruency (detail)
    Gouache on paper mounted to plywood, mylar, colored pencil.
  • Congruency
    Congruency
    Gouache on paper mounted to plywood, mylar, colored pencil. 36 x 11 in. (together)
  • Pendular Tilt IV
    Pendular Tilt IV
    Tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Pendular Tilt I
    Pendular Tilt I
    Tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • White Shift
    White Shift
    Tempera on canvas. 30 x 30 in.
  • Black Shift
    Black Shift
    Tempera on canvas. 30 x 30 in.
  • Pendular Tilt II
    Pendular Tilt II
    Tempera on paper. 18 x 24 in.
  • Pendular Tilt III
    Pendular Tilt III
    Tempera on paper. 24 x 18 in.

Selected Drawings & Paintings

A selection of paintings and drawings from 2012.
  • Caligula
    Caligula
    vector modified image for print
  • Monad
    Monad
    graphite on paper 18 in.
  • Untitled
    Untitled
    printing ink, spraypaint, on paper 32 x 32 in. (flat)
  • Up
    Up
    spray paint on laminated paper 16 x 24 in.
  • Stay
    Stay
    spray paint on laminated paper 16 x 24 in.
  • Student Council 1980 (detail)
    Student Council 1980 (detail)
    acrylic, ink, colored pencil on found photograph
  • Student Council 1980
    Student Council 1980
    acrylic, ink, colored pencil on found photograph 38 x 24 in.
  • Play Along
    Play Along
    tempera on paper. 10 x 8 in.
  • (as yet untitled) 2013
    (as yet untitled) 2013
    (detail) graphite on paper. 210x021 in.
  • (as yet untitled) 2013
    (as yet untitled) 2013
    graphite on paper. 21 x 21 in.

See What Happens

wood, acrylic, spray paint, plexi glass
  • workyb4.jpg
    workyb4.jpg
  • workyb12.jpg
    workyb12.jpg
  • workyb11.jpg
    workyb11.jpg
  • workyb10.jpg
    workyb10.jpg
  • workyb9.jpg
    workyb9.jpg
  • workyb8.jpg
    workyb8.jpg
  • workyb7.jpg
    workyb7.jpg
  • workyb6.jpg
    workyb6.jpg
  • workyb5.jpg
    workyb5.jpg
  • workyb13.jpg
    workyb13.jpg

Not Even Close

tempera on paper
  • september_2012_5.jpg
    september_2012_5.jpg
  • september_2012_7.jpg
    september_2012_7.jpg
  • september_2012_8.jpg
    september_2012_8.jpg
  • september_2012_6.jpg
    september_2012_6.jpg

Long Story Short

spray paint on bent aluminum
  • Long Story Short
    Long Story Short
  • Long Story Short
    Long Story Short
  • Long Story Short
    Long Story Short
  • Long Story Short
    Long Story Short
  • Long Story Short
    Long Story Short
  • Long Story Short
    Long Story Short

Either Way

  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way"either way" sculpture hermonie only williams
    Either Way"either way" sculpture hermonie only williams
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way
  • Either Way
    Either Way

More or Less the Same

To create this image I took a dowel and cut it into an even number of pieces. I painted each piece with black and white paint. Every segment has an inverse segment painted as its opposite. If all of the segments were arranged back in a straight line it would be continuous, with no gaps. This piece is about completion.
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
    Each segment was photographed individually and arranged digitally.
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same
  • More or Less the Same
    More or Less the Same