A Sense of Space: On New Mexico, Georgia O’Keeffe, and how space can open our minds and free our imaginations
“Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.”
~ Zen Saying
Dear Wanderers,
In wide-open country, a physical sense of spaciousness envelops you. Finally, you can see clearly and hear yourself think. Recent psychological studies have proven what native peoples always knew: a landscape with clear, unobstructed views is the natural equivalent of decluttering in reducing stress and increasing well being.
This feeling of openness drew unconventional city dwellers Mabel Dodge Luhan and Georgia O’Keeffe to northern New Mexico. O’Keeffe, widely acknowledged as one of the 20th century’s leading modernist artists, first came from New York City in 1929 at Luhan’s urging, discovered Ghost Ranch soon after and returned almost every summer before settling permanently in 1949. In this uncrowded landscape, O’Keeffe could follow her routine uninterrupted: walking, sketching, painting, gardening and napping, guarded from unwelcome interruptions by a succession of six pet chow dogs (selected for their protective nature).
New Mexico opened O’Keeffe’s creative vision in the same way the 1972 photo of Earth seen from Apollo 17 expanded the world’s view of space. No one who glimpsed the three-dimensional image of our “blue marble” planet could fail to grasp the vastness of the universe, or, paradoxically, to feel closer to Earth.
As British astronomer and science fiction writer Sir Fred Hoyle said in a September 9, 1979, London Observer article, “Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards.”
As if to confirm this, Georgia O’Keeffe painted two versions of one of her best-known New York skyscraper oils, City Night. In the first, dated 1926, stark, vertical buildings stand out against urban darkness. In the second, from the 1970s, stars shining between skyscrapers transform the New York night into a slice of Ghost Ranch sky. The second painting was the product of the artist’s expanded perspective, allowing her to reinterpret the work with imagination. It’s the kind of creative magic that can happen in big-sky places if you linger awhile.
Happy spacious wandering,
Ellen
