(Photograph by Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)
First Person
The graduate
Kershner Williams, 17, just finished high school and has a summer job at Artists for Humanity, where he’s designed since he was a freshman.
(Photograph by Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)
Your 3-D design group at Artists for Humanity makes furniture from resin and folded magazines. We do a lot of designs, but this is one of our main things. The cool thing is there are no limits. They’ll give you the magazines and want to see what you can come up with.
What did you do creatively as a kid? I have this photographic memory. If I see something once, I can draw it. I tried to practice not having to erase, so I’d draw with permanent markers. I remember I took long sheets of paper and drew the whole Titanic when I was in second grade.
From memory? Yeah. I was obsessed. I gave it to my teacher. That’s what I would do, give my drawings to beautiful girls. My older sister was really artistic, and I wanted to compete with her. She took me to see Susan [Rodgerson, AFH executive director], and I told Susan I wanted to turn my drawings into 3-D.
Are you confident you can earn a living from your art?
I’m pretty confident, but I don’t usually pinpoint the future, because life is always changing. I never expected to make tables. It just came to me.
What else are you good at? Oh, man. I’m good at music, photography, video directing.
What are you not good at? I’m not good at basketball. Every time I’d go to the basketball courts I couldn’t dribble, and they’d laugh at me.
How did your parents come up with your name?
My father said he got it from a Russian scientist. When I was little, I was shy about telling kids my name. Now I’m like, “Yeah!” It’s unique.
Are some of your best friends from AFH? I make friends everywhere I go. Susan told me, “The more you smile, the more friends you get,” so I practice in the mirror. I’ve been to a lot of events for AFH; I wasn’t afraid to be social. I still have all my name tags. They’re like my little trophies.
Do you think you’ll stick around as a mentor? I’d stick around forever if I could.
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