A 20 minute film on the experience of Jamaican immigrants working and living in the English Midlands is the highlight of the current DCA exhibition.
Soon Come is the centrepiece of and shares its title with Matthew Arthur Williams first major British solo show.
He is a Glasgow-based artist becoming known for explorations of identity, especially in terms of race and sexuality.
Photography and film
Although rooted in photography, Matthew has created an atmospheric film from an archive created to document the lives of his maternal grandparents in Stoke-on-Trent, along with his mother who emigrated once they had settled.
Combining sound and music along with images of both the Potteries region and the Caribbean, Matthew hopes the audience can empathise with his family’s story.
He says: “Maintaining a familial archive has always been important to me, and seeing the value in even the smallest things.
“What become more apparent while making the work and still researching was the lack of records that made up the world I knew existed.
“I wanted to share real and personal experiences, because ultimately that is all we have, not a record or theorised idea of someone’s reality.”
Portraiture alongside
Accompanying Soon Come is some of Matthew’s portraiture, shot on the film he prefers to digital cameras, he explains.
“I find there is so much autonomy working with black and white film, and then printing those images,” Matthew says.
“There is a constant connection with the work and the medium. Those who get to view it can feel that tactility and pick up on an artist’s intentions instantly.”
Born and raised in London, Matthew studied art at Manchester before moving to Glasgow in 2014, a city where he now feels settled.
He says: “I love it. I think that’s what has encouraged me to stay there. Like anywhere there is probably a love/hate situation lying somewhere beneath, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else more south.”
Hospitalfield residency
In 2019, he took part in an artist residency at Hospitalfield, Arbroath, that he reveals provided an important stepping stone to today’s output.
“I was able to connect with other artists local and international and lay out ways of thinking around my work, which can be seen in the things that I do now,” he says.
“Opportunities such as Hospitalfield are really special places that need to be maintained and receive continuous support.
“To be awarded the time to converse, set out plans for collaboration and, more importantly, digest information is pretty vital for an artist, and it was for me.”
Jamaican phrase
Soon Come’s title comes from a common Jamaican phrase with several, often contradictory meanings, the artist explains.
“It can mean everything and nothing all at once,” he says. “It holds on to so much promise but not quite telling you when or where.
“At face value, it reads that something or someone will come by soon. But that also may be a bluff.”
DCA describes the phrase here as “a gentle invitation to slow down our thinking in fast-paced environments”. It is certainly worth taking 20 minutes or more to appreciate Matthew’s work.
Soon Come runs at DCA, Dundee, until 26 March
Conversation