This illustration by Matt Williams accompanied Roxane Gay’s moving guest essay for The Times, in which she reflects on the recent untimely death of her younger brother Joel. In her piece, she discusses how watching Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s Broadway play, “Pass Over,” in which Moses and Kitch, two young Black men, fantasize about a better world, opened up in her a well of grief and reflection on her brother’s life. She writes, “The show reminded me that even when I feel there is nothing more any of us can say about our collective grief for the fragility of Black life, there can be a way forward. We can also celebrate our strength and grace and uncanny wisdom.”

Matt Williams is an Illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York, specializing in editorial and advertising illustration. He has always admired creative work that expresses the essence of a subject in the most natural and effortless way. After working in fashion for over six years as a footwear designer, Matt brings a study of purpose to his work, combined with a passion for portrait and figure drawing. He received his master’s (M.F.A. Illustration as Visual Essay) from The School of Visual Arts in 2019 and graduated from Pratt Institute in 2010 with a Bachelor of Industrial Design degree. Matt is currently an adjunct professor at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) teaching part-time in the Illustration Department.