at F Bacon Human Presence exhibition, 2025

"I think of painting as a process of discovering visions, like waking dreams, inexplicable yet authentic.


I am endlessly captivated by the possibilities of oil paint, not only in the creation of images,

but also as a magnetic substance in itself."

Sonny Williams is an oil painter based in Brighton, UK.


With a focus on heads derived from self-taken black and white photographs, he attempts to capture emotional and psychological images. Concerned with facets of the human condition, he utilises both intuitive improvisation and cryptic depiction.  His recent paintings, which could largely be described as psychosocial musings, tend to engender a wide array of reactions in those who see them.


Born in Northern Ireland, but growing up in the North East of England, Sonny attended the University of Sunderland and in 2001 graduated with a first class BA in Fine Art, specialising in oil painting..