watercolour

Seeing Georgia O’Keeffe (homage)

I grew up with a practice of reverence for artists, its how I was raised the culture in my family. Going to visit Frida Khalo’s house over and over again as a kid living in Mexico City. Posters of Georgia O’Keeffe were brought with us to every country we lived in (we moved all over the world my entire life) so they became part of the decoration kit that made a home a home. My family lived in a Josef Frank house for a few years in Vienna (so we appropriately have become super fans of his work) I spent my HS years ditching school to go visit the Matisse room in the tower in DC. I have spent so many hours visiting the certain museums over and over again, like in Bavaria there are certain places on the worlds map where time passes and I learn something new visiting and returning to those places like the Dirt Room in NYC, I have gone for decades since the 90’s. I like reverence felt in the act of repeat viewings artists know what I mean sitting with an artwork or a place of great inspiration its like a transmission occurs I don’t understand the alchemy of it but it happens with looking, and thinking but also a kind of watchful meditation. While at Ghost Ranch this past summer as an artist in residence I set out to find a way to make a work of art that did just that, that was in that sort of space. I value the practice of tribute/reverence/homage art, and I made this piece very intentionally and not accidentally on purpose.

“-but I believe I have sent something out into the world in painting form that wasn’t there before—and I believe it is strong enough not to be easily dismissed” page 365 Georgia O’Keeffe Correspondence 1941-1949 (with Maria Chabot)