# @williamslenses on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DP7fp01jHpB
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35871150-williamslenses-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/da39785064.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-10-17T23:57:23.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** WILLIAMSLENSES (@williamslenses) — https://gondola.cc/williamslenses

## Caption

This piece is one of the most personal I’ve ever made. It’s called “Between Roosevelt and North Ave.”
(Swipe to see all the details, this one is massive! ➡️)
-
I grew up in a town called Glen Ellyn. For my entire childhood, my whole world was contained between two streets: the north border (North Avenue) and the southern end (Roosevelt Road).
It wasn’t just my town; it was my parents’, my grandparents’, and even my great-grandparents’ town. My family’s roots are planted so deep there, side-by-side with generations of other families.
-
I was always inspired by this one local folk artist’s painting of my town. It hung in the local library and showed this perfect, idealistic vision of the place.
-
I wanted to take that idealistic vision and inject it with the messy, complicated, “assemblage” of reality.
-
THE PROCESS (BTS)
-
So how do you map a feeling? How do you chart a family’s complicated history?
I started by accumulating... everything.
    •    🚂 Childhood Toys: Train tracks that represented connection and boundaries.
    •    📖 Family Archives: My parents’ actual high school yearbooks and photos
    •    🎄 Vintage Heirlooms: Pieces of my grandparents’ Christmas village, representing that “idealistic” vision of home.
-
The final piece is a 6’x10’ wall of memory. The maximalist, dense arrangement speaks to the mystery of family and the current paradox I’m exploring in my work: what happens when you start digging through your family’s archive?
It’s a map of nostalgia, tension, and history, all tangled together.
—
This piece was a journey. Let me know what you think in the comments. Does it make you think about your own hometown or family history? 💬
-
Endless love,
~WrH
-
#WILLIAMSLENSES #BehindTheScenes #ArtProcess #AssemblageArt #MixedMediaArt #InstallationArt #ContemporaryArt #FamilyHistory #Hometown #GlenEllyn #Americana #PersonalMythology #MFA #ArtistOnInstagram #ArtStudent #ChildhoodMemories #Yearbook #QueerArt #Archives

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 0
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

artistoninstagram, yearbook, assemblageart, artprocess, americana, personalmythology, mixedmediaart, glenellyn, queerart, williamslenses, hometown, childhoodmemories, mfa, familyhistory, behindthescenes, contemporaryart, installationart, archives, artstudent

---
Copyright (c) Gondola