contrast, balance & harmony - f.scholder

Woman in Nature AP 1991

Whether or not I was aware of it, Fritz Scholder's work has always played a significant role in my life. As a lover of art, and life, I see his work as a reflection and a reminder to be open to all things. I see and feel emotion from looking at this painting and countless others of his.

Contextually this piece is extremely powerful. Being a woman present day sucks ass. Like, gross ass.
I see this print and feel many different emotions. A big ole mixture of sadness and gratitude.

I believe with what happened just recently with the Million Women March, this piece is supported socially. Showing the darkness women are often push in to by not having a voice, along with the face not being visible, speaking loudly about how we are often times just considered a body.

Psychologically, I believe all of the above are felt by women. At least for me, I see this and connect it with decisions being made right now about our bodies and whether or not our government will support a woman's option of abortion. Not only women in America, but women across the planet marched this last weekend. Women standing hand-in-hand, supporting one another, and fighting for a cause across the planet, is so important.

We possess a sack of meat that works pretty damn well. Granted some work differently than others, but we have hands so we can touch and feel, we have eyes to see the beauty that surrounds us and we have organs inside of us that have the capabilities to grow another human being.
And we are being told to shut up and stay back and to not think that we can think.

This painting symbolizes to me, what it feels like to be a woman.

The woman's face in the print is hidden. Accentuating the body. But seeing the face is not important. What is important is the motion of the painting. The figure is turned creating motion, the drips and the kinetic brush strokes continue the feeling of motion and harmony.
Generally, it's not popular to have your focal point center, but because of the movement of her arm and her breast, a triangle is created furthering the balanced motion of the painting.
The dark shadow on the leg prevents the figure from being flat.

Everything brings you back to the body.
The figure is cold but the painting as a whole is warm.
The yellows and oranges and purples and greens and blues that seep from underneath create warmth.
The overpainting on the top quarter creates an overall effect of warmth.

The brush strokes create energy and it flows with the top quarter and drips down expanding the energy throughout.
The more energy, more feel, more flow brings your eye back to the woman.

Woman in Nature AP is piece that reminds me how brilliant it is to be alive to see art like this.

Visceral Response

Georgia O’Keeffe created this piece in 1918. Its title is Music Pink and Blue II. Music Pink and Blue is a separate piece, alike in many ways but distinctively different color schemes.

O’Keeffe started as an abstract painter but moved away from it partly because she grew weary of critics and art people reading too much into her images that she contends were never intended to be interpreted in such ways.

Many believe O’Keeffe’s paintings reflected her sexuality and sex in general.

I chose this painting specifically because it tells us something about ourselves.

Music Pink and Blue II is a fine example of the controversy surrounding her art as well as our visceral response as humans.

I would love nothing more than to just stare at this piece and feel the color and movement that’s plainly provided for me. But I have another visceral response.  I can’t get the fact that it looks like a female sex organ out of my mind and that changes the piece for me.  

In this case, at least for me, it’s impossible to be objective because my viewing of some of her art has been polluted by opinions and observations made by others as I’ve learned and experienced art.

Where does this piece guide me?
It guides me straight into the blue void. Right into the mystery, and it pulses with life. Just like music. And you guessed it, just like a vagina.

Shape is pertinent in this piece.

The repeating of the ovals in the painting always brings the viewer back to the blue void. I start at the green to yellow stem, which leads me back to the void, continually in a loop.

Simply as an abstract piece, this works because of composition and color and that intangible something that all good art shares. It is made even better because it possesses layers. I see color and movement. I feel the color.

But I also see a vagina.  What does that say about me?

That’s precisely what I love about good art; it exposes things about ourselves if we choose to see them.