Georgia O'Keefe-Perspective and Vision
Georgia O'Keefe, through the use of charcoal, watercolor, pastel, and oil, blends abstraction and representation to form what she refers to as "that memory or dream thing" (O'Keefe); she created works which were full of emotion and from which deeper meanings could be interpreted, such as sexuality and statements of femininity (which she subsequently denied). She worked on two different but inter-related subjects: Abstraction, and landscapes. She monumentalized her subjects: her Abstractions were very distinct enlargements of leaves, shells, and flowers; her flowers were filled with an erotic tension and held a dynamic energy. Her landscapes were taken from her view of Lake George (NY), New Mexico, and New York City; her New York Cityscapes portrayed a subtle beauty that coexists with the harsh industrial city setting. Her work is strong partially, if not mostly, due to her use of color and her integration of photographic effects.
English: Photo portrait of Georgia O'Keeffe by Alf...
English: "Winter - Fifth Avenue" by Alfred Stiegli...
English: Alfred Stieglitz in 1902She used color as emotion, searching for the perfect colors to represent her forms was very important to her. O'Keefe's also took photographic advancements of her time, and adapted them to suit and enhance her paintings; transferred such innovations as lens flare, panoramic lens, and halation to the medium of paint. Through the use of all these techniques and focuses she fought to make known the unknown.
I personally am particularly stimulated by O'Keefe's use of close-up perspective, color, and her self-criticism. Her frequent use of subject matter in the close-up perspective interests me very much; I have recently begun to pursue and enjoy this experimentation in perspective myself, and her successful use of such intrigues me and encourages me to continue my explorations of magnification. She uses color in such a harmonic and subsequentually beautiful way that it's quite amazing to me. She would often hold...