Chronicles | May 2021
A R T
New Mexico
Last month, I questioned what draws an artist to New Mexico. I found descriptions of inspiration by its space and light. After going myself, I understand the appeal of the quiet landscape. Muted browns and soft greens cover the ground while the sky is vivid, allowing for intense dualities. Although this cloud iridescence pictured above was seen in Amarillo, I think it was a good bookend to the trip. I learned that it’s a phenomenon that occurs when small water droplets scatter light causing us to see colors.
L I T E R A T U R E
Flowers and Symbolism
I think about flowers conceptually because I reference them a lot in my artwork. The article Flowers Are the Ultimate Symbol was an influential read. Jessi Jezewska Stevens covers points in history when flowers and their connection to femininity intertwine.
British dictionaries in the 1800s started to concrete a flower’s meaning to specifically feminine associations of that time, lending to projections on flowers and women via a male perspective. Stevens states that the connection is that both are passively productive. But, with characterization comes abilities for subversion. Using the opportunity to make our interpretations and relationships to flowers become empowering.
“The women in my family tell me that gardens remind them of life. Their flower beds attract actual bees and butterflies, and, in fact, were specially designed as entomological paradises. I look at their wild flowers, weedy and rangy, cheerful in a flash thunderstorm. They are braver than I am, I think, both the flowers and the women. Someday, I will look back on them as those who taught me to accept the final silence; the only ones who ever tried, in earnest, to teach me how to die.” Jessi Jezewska Stevens, Flowers Are the Ultimate Symbol
Aroma and Symbolism
It’s been over a year since Covid-19 presented its consequences. Loss of smell is one for most who catch it and sometimes permanent. In consideration, I’ve been practicing reflecting on what aroma means for me. Aatish Taseer deals with a similar thought in the article, The Fragrances That Changed the Field. Additionally, his writing follows the history of Oudh between and fragrance’s relationship between East and West. He calls on his own experience with aroma as a kid in India in the eighties. In the 1800s, as mentioned before, florals became associated with femininity as well as, pureness, and hygiene. Taseer explains how by the 1970s, woody aromas began to represent feminine freedom, independence, and strength.
Using Nature for Spatial Learning
Alex Wolf, who creates visual systems for spatial learning, was interviewed in the article, The Daily Heller: Visualizing Learning Patterns Through Nature’s Spatial Patterns. Her goal with the Pattern Alphabet is to introduce a way of learning that focuses on understanding spatial awareness to then better understand language and mathematics. She references patterns and growth found in nature to make relations to her simple line drawings. Her system is useable for all ages and AI. The article is really interesting and delves into her motivation, logistics, and studies for the project. I was especially interested because spatial learning was vital for me as someone with dyslexia which, is apparently very common as touched on in the article. You can pre-order Pattern Alphabet on Wolf’s Kickstarter.