♪♪ georgia on my mind ♫♪

yesterday afternoon a blog entry made me reflect upon what an exhibition, usually put up to make the viewer wonder and wander, will do to the mind and soul, besides showcasing the artwork of a group or individual.

particularly, what does any one frame of mind do to your own? where does the perception of one lead to, in the other. i guess a school example of the sender and receiver game in the old communication scheme, innit? ☻

 as i waited on my train to get in on track last saturday, tiny mauve flowers wafted towards me from the curb. without thinking i snapped off a stem, because i felt i wanted to study that flower. and i gave her water, back home. and she recuperated from a half hour of thirst.

this gesture reminded me of georgia o'keefe's best known works of art, and why she ever painted flower close ups. to better see what beauty lies within, was sort of her strategy. to transmit perception too then, and allow the viewer depth that might be lost otherwise. 

although the flowers weren't exactly what held me enthralled. it really were those vast landscapes o'keefe painted, over and again. as if, in doing so, she wanted to convince herself too, of that wonderous spot she lived in, and communicated over. 

o'keefe made me look at abstraction differently. she showed me it is alright to paint ordinary things and highlight their meaning. and communicate through these about your inner self, showing what ever you want to, hiding all that needs hidden. 

while of course, in doing so, the intimacy gets cracked open and shared with the viewer anyhoo. that is such a sexy tension, one that i always thrive to express myself, i discover slowly. i'm just always so glad when i decipher it from other people's work too. 

georgia o'keefe's retrospective is on at tate modern till october 30 still. london isn't far (if you live this side of the planet), so if you do live close by, i urge you to go and see that show. if it starts traveling afterwards, i would be tempted to follow its trail. ♥ 

all images shown above taken randomly and stoutly from the www. 

i'll be glad to supply the sources if need be. 

polaroid flower taken in hopital notre-dame à la rose's kitchen garden 
mauve flower by railroad track