From Laniyah, Sharif’s daughter: My dad Sharif was very outgoing, loving, and overprotective about his “pooh”. He treated me like royalty, and anytime I needed him he was there in a heartbeat. Losing you had to be the worst thing that ever happened to me. Seven years definitely was not enough time with you and it left me mentally unstable. I remember getting the news . . . worst day of my life. I was just wishing it was all a dream. Even until this day, I wish I could’ve just told him that I love him one last time. My last birthday spent with [him] was Dorney Park. I think. He got mad and we left early because nobody was listening. My dad treated me like the princess I am and you will forever be in my heart. I love you and I can’t wait to see you again.

My father was a man who had smiles to brighten your days. He was patient and kind and the very best friend you could ever hope for. I can’t tell you daddy, how many tears I’ve cried since the day I was told my dad had died. It seems so impossible even though I know it’s true, everything I see around me reminds me of you. I think of you most on your birthday, father’s day, and my birthday. Happy some days, sad the other, but right now I can feel you in my heart and you are always on my mind. I just wish I could have said one last goodbye.

From the artist Laura Madeleine: Sharif Rasheed Williams was 32 in 2009. Before he was shot and killed, he was a “happy go lucky person,” according to his mother Joanne Williams. He was outgoing with a good heart and loved his children. He loved to travel and generally enjoy life. He was proud of his red Corvette and his blue razor pit bull dogs, Christian and Dior. He took his mom to a special Frankie Beverly concert for Mothers’ Day. He worked hard and played hard.

In making this portrait I wanted to include the things that Sharif loved and enjoyed and try to make it fun and colorful, as it seems that is how he lived his short life. There are names of those left behind. As Joanne pointed out to me, killing one person wounds many others. The little boy in the piece is also Sharif, a sweetie with the same smile he took to adulthood. It was a challenge to pull this all together but I felt privileged to get to know, as best I could, this man in the photos. His name in the heart at the top is the tattoo his mother Joanne got after he was gone.

From the curator (and artist): After my first experience with making a portrait for this project, I vowed I could not make another one. It was so intensely involving and, as many of the artists have also written, deeply emotional. I am grateful to have found the strength to go on to create more portraits for the project and to get to know more of the families and friends who so lovingly share details about their loved ones with us.

I am including some photos of Sharif’s portrait in progress. I work in a technique based on batik. Molten wax and silk dyes are applied onto stretched silk with brushes in alternating steps. At the end of the process the wax is removed.

We hope to include more behind the scenes stories in the future from artists and families and friends to reveal how the relationships grow between artist and subject and how these moving portraits come to be.

Enjoying Portrait of Sharif Rasheed Williams by Laura Madeleine batik painting on silk 20” x 30” 2017