From the 1960s, Mervyn Williams began to focus his attention on Optical Art, a stylistic movement led by international artists such as Victor Vasarely, François Morellet and Bridget Riley. A particular form of abstraction, Optical Art’s intention is to manipulate the rules of visual perception in order to give the illusion of three-dimensional space, requiring the viewer to make sense of the complexity of the image, hence becoming the “subject” of the artwork.

From 1956-1957, Williams attended Elam School of Fine Arts, training specifically in printmaking under Ted Dutch. It was through this medium that he initially gained recognition as an artist, becoming the recipient of the printmaking first prize of the Hays Art Award (1966), and the New Zealand Print Council Samarkand Award (1969).  From the 1970s, Williams became intent on producing paintings with the same optical properties evident in his earlier prints. In 1975, he travelled to Australia with Gordon Walters to expand his knowledge of international artists working at this time. Strongly influenced by the works he viewed by optical artists such as Bridget Riley, he returned to New Zealand motivated to develop his art more thoroughly in this direction. Delta Series - Whirl is a strong example from this active period in Williams’ career. The work is restricted to a simple vocabulary of colour, shape and structure. The series of interlocking triangles are strategically arranged at differing angles, in a grid-like structure, creating a swirling pattern. The repetition of these formal elements causes an optical effect, confusing foreground and background, and exaggerating a sense of depth.

Williams’ works from this series act as an obvious precursor to his later works. More recently, he has focussed on the formal aspects of colour, light and surface texture in his painting. He continues to base his work around geometric shapes, which often appear as an isolated individual form within the composition, as opposed to the repetitive grid structure evident in earlier works.