“Art is a bridge between the visible and the invisible, the known and the unknown.” Hilma af Klint
Seeing the Hilma af Klint & Mondrian “Forms of Life” exhibit at the Tate Modern was top of our list while briefly in London last month, with my two partner-in-crime friends forever bonded over af Klints work, after 90+degree day of pounding the pavement with chalk last winter at the Lake Worth Street Art Fest.
Though I grew up in London, the area where the Tate Modern is located is completely new to me. Crossing Millennium Footbridge to get to the Tate we were briefly distracted by the chewing gum art. Chewing gum Art! ! I'd never heard of the medium but as someone who loves all forms of outsider art especially something so random and niche, I was intrigued. Artist Ben Wilson (the chewing gum man!) has taken London my storm creating art from blobs of trampled on gum!
The “Forms of Life” show did not disappoint. I have done a deep dive into the life and work of Hilma af Klint, multiple books read, biographies, podcasts, movies, documentaries and every time I see any of her work in person I am just in awe of the scale and depth of it.
“The spiritual is not separate from the material; they are intertwined.” Hilma af Klint
This show was super comprehensive. They had her 10 largest, many of her Paintings for the Temple (including Evolution series), her Tree of Knowledge series, (which I had previously seen at the Zwirner Gallery in 2021 on the UES), her Swan Series and couple more series which were new to me. I was especially excited that they showed much of her botanical art and had her "Flowers, Mosses, and Lichens" notebook on display which I am saving for another post. The only pieces missing as far as I am concerned were her “Altar Pieces” which I look forward to seeing sometime in the future. (in some ways its great as I am left wanting more.)
Sometimes I struggle to see the connection when a curator tries to liken the life and experience of two artists, often it seems a stretch so I was unsure about the paring with Piet Mondrian. As the Guardian wrote “They never met. They never saw nor even knew of each other’s work. One was a Swedish visionary, taking directions (she claimed) from angels, the other an ascetically high-minded Dutch modernist.” To be honest, my experience of his work was limited to primary color squares, so while welcoming the opportunity to learn more about him, I was also weary of the paring.
I couldn’t have been more mistaken! It just works, and the curation helped, keeping the artists work segregated on separate walls, with just enough artist quotes and placards to lead the audience to see that they invented their own languages of abstract art rooted in nature. At the heart of both of their artistic journeys was a shared desire to understand the forces behind life on earth both beginning their art journeys with landscape paintings
In past times when one lived in contact with nature, abstraction was easy; it was done unconsciously. Now in our denaturalized age abstraction becomes an effort.”
- Piet Mondrian
Nature or, that which I see, inspires me, puts me, as with any painter, in an emotional state so that an urge comes about to make something, but I want to come as close as possible to the truth and abstract everything from that, until I reach the foundation, still just an external foundation, of things... ”
- Piet Mondrian
Next month, at the Northampton Chalk festival I will be creating another Hilma af Klint piece…not 100% sure which one but I am thinking her Series V. No 5 1920 piece, which reminds me of the flower cottages in Provincetown. I often work with the archetypal shape of the house, the home. For a minute when I first saw this series from afar, I mistook them for a Mondrian piece, but now looking at it, I don’t understand why I did!
“I am a vessel through which the universe expresses itself.” Hilma af Klint
There has recently been a lot of controversy around whether Hilma af Klint actually painted her works of art, its no secret that she worked within a group of 5 women called “The Five” which included Anna Cassel, Sigrid Hedman, and sisters Mathilda Nilsson and Cornelia Cederberg.,The Five conducted séances (in which there was widespread interest at the turn of this century). The Five were guided to create automatic drawings on paper. I read an article in Artnews (possibly the one mentioned) and also listened to a podcast on Anna Cassel, Hilmas long time lover/companion and also patron, the idea that much/some of Hilmas art might have been more collaborative. I expect that this will blow out of proportion in the media soon in an attempt to decredit Hilma who as a well before her time lesbian, feminist, anti-capitalist artist! Because this is what we do to women and women artists. we position them against each other, as if only one can be successful. I believe that if Hilma was a man not so much would be made of this issue. Of course credit where credit is due but it's not uncommon for artists to have help....look at Picasso and Henri Deschamps(his printmaker.
(I am planning post on Anna Cassel one of these days)
“My art is a gateway to another dimension, a realm beyond the visible.” “Every brushstroke is an invocation, a conversation with the unknown.” Hilma af Klint
Together the Five produced a collection of automatic drawings and texts by relinquishing conscious control over the act of painting. Their marks were ‘guided’ resulting in unplanned, expressionistic and often abstract drawings. Through such practices, af Klint was able to free herself from the constraints of her formal training. This period of radical experimentation laid the groundwork for her most important body of work, The paintings for the temple 1906–15. It is this automic drawing which brings us back to today, here in Western MA (Pocumtuck land) and this missives feature artist.
Call me the Daughter of Sea and Sky…..begins the artist statement local artist Gale Blacksnake whose work is also informed by Spirit.
Blacksnakes introduction to Nature was at the age of six when her family left their home in Chicago and moved onto “The Elizabeth” (a 60 foot schooner) where they remained for the next twelve years. Living full time on a boat you are surrounded by nature and reliant on her Elements. It’s also where the sea and sky meet which has been a life long theme for Blacksnake Woman.
I met (Gale) Blacksnake about 15 years ago when my daughter then aged 5 started attending Woodland Village camp (Teaching camp was Blacksnake Woman’s life for over 40 years, some of her early campers are now in the fifties and still in touch, sharing memories of days and stories told in the Lodge or on the River) Woodland Village was way more than a camp, a way of life, with teachings that inform life, but that is a story for another time.
Blacksnake is one of those people who you feel like you have known her for many lifetimes, and she has lived many lives, and has the stories to share. You are never bored in her presence, and I am thrilled to be able to post this interview so that more people can be captivated by her stories.
Like me she is a newer artist (by that I mean painter, she has been an artist of words, of storytelling for a lifetime). When I asked her how /when she begun painting she told the following story. One afternoon she was waiting for her husband James Whitbeck (also known to many as TMD Traveling Medicine Dog), in his home art studio (he is a highly skilled Traditional Oil painter). TMD had been paining a water scene and had left some blue paint in his pallet, Blacksnake was about to leave the studio and return to the house but had a strange feeling that there was something she was supposed to do before leaving. Without knowing why she picked up a clean canvas, and replaced the one on the easel and automatically, painted a human face. A total download and the “Portrait of Factory Girl” appeared. As she painted the story of the woman came to her. Upon return to his studio James was surprised to see this painting and wondered who painted it…I will let Blacksnake tell you the rest of the story as it does not stop here.
(please listen to the interview below)
Since “Factory Girl” over the past 10 years or so Blacksnake has painted about 20 Spirit Paintings in oil that seem to paint themselves, as an unseen speaker narrates the story of their life and death which Blacksnake then re-tells in poetry.
Please enjoy the interview!
As well as the above Spirit paintings which Blacksnake channels, she is also an expressionist artist, creating beautiful land and seascapes. She paints and expresses with color what others express with form, one person sees something and another sees something different, often a feeling not visual.
I looked up the term expressionism in art to get a better understanding
Expressionism is artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person.
Though initially quite depressed when she retired from running a camp and the transition was hard it seems that Blacksnake has created quite the new life for herself. and has continued to weaves her life experiences into art, and stories. She is also a medium and a healer and works from a beautiful cabin in her property in Montague MA. Recently on her 78th birthday her daughter Otter Woman began a fundraiser to help make this cabin more accessible for Elders.
If you would like to connect with Blacksnake and find out more about her work, and to possibly book a healing session or join one of her circles you can email her.
Coming up this week:
TODAY! Sunday Oct 1st 1-4pm Closing reception for Misa Chappell show Wildwood at Rhynia Inc
Still accepting submissions for Mind Memory Mycelium: Women (+NBA) in the book arts for a Feb 2024 show at the APE Gallery (Northampton MA)
Next week I will be posting my complete Fall Teaching schedule, including the Blazing Forward: The next 25 years of Herbal Wisdom fundraiser (Launching Oct 15th) so please stay tuned!