In what he terms 'imaginative reconstructions', this new series of portrait heads includes depictions of writers, fictional characters, and individuals that William Tucker has encountered throughout his lifetime. These sculptural portraits date back to the end of Covid at a time when mask wearing was common, obscuring people’s identity. Inspired by the question of identity and the specificity of the subject in a portrait, Tucker embarked on new body of works to explore it in a physical sense. With regards to the process of making this body of work, Tucker reveals that the individual works were all originally part of one enormous plaster of a horse – a subject he had previously explored. By cutting it up and making new work out of it, he is symbolically moving on from the past. He also alludes to assemblage and a certain anthropomorphism, sometimes referred to by scientists as pareidolia, which involves a willingness to suspend disbelief to allow figurative forms to take shape: “I was really attracted to these pieces; I started to put them together and these heads started to appear”. Tucker describes this as “a vocabulary of chunks” which, once assembled, seemed to want to become someone, developing into a character.

Bill's Father in Law: Composer, musician, and poet Edwin Frank Avril (1920-2018) was born in Queens, NY. He learned drums and piano in elementary school, and began composing around age 12, something he has continued to do throughout his life. Avril studied piano and clarinet at Oberlin College, where he met Bela Bartok. Drafted during WWII, he played in military bands in San Francisco and performed at the inauguration of the United Nations. Avril earned his Bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State and pursued a Masters at Columbia University while teaching high school. He married Dorothy Avril in 1948 and completed his Doctorate in Music Education at Columbia. Appointed Professor of Music at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), Avril established the Jazz department and introduced World Music classes after studying Ethnomusicology at UCLA. A prolific composer, he wrote for various instruments and ensembles, with many compositions performed and recorded. Avril's ninetieth birthday was celebrated with a recital at Rowan University, showcasing his chamber music, piano, guitar, and vocal works. He lived in Glassboro, NJ, “composing one measure a day,” until his 97th year.