“Let everything happen to you –
Beauty and terror- just keep going – no feeling is final”

Mark Nepo-

Insidious subtle intrusions…

I said to a dear friend the other day-

when she expressed a certain kind of “reckoning”

she was grappling with a subtle be-littlement that came her way.

Most likely just un-realized on the part of the women who served it up to her -and more part of a systemic sexism that still permeates our culture.

Don't you give it another thought I said.

“That era is dying.”

That—meaning an old worn out patriarchal guard.

“A change in the world is coming – and we have to just keep on being our beautiful sensitive selves- but with a magic cloak to scuff off the sludge -mud when it hits.”

This exchange was reminiscent of several comments coming my way recently in reaction to a documentary on artist Pat Steir that I asked a wide breach of my students to watch.

Pat Steir, a painter who has been honing her craft and conceptual narrative for more than fifty years.

In the documentary Pat Steir: Artist, by, Veronica Gonzalez;

Pat says of her mature style she grew into over time;

“It’s chance within limitation - and when it really works is when I let go of control and let it paint itself, being more attached to the process than the conclusion is an incredible freedom.”

Her limitations are the masterful color combinations she so eloquently chooses - the size of the works and the materials.

Her philosophical underpinnings;

A zen approach and a strong influence from her contemporary John Cage who created works (music) with the philosophy of non- intervention-chance.

I was surprised when more than one comment questioned the validity of her seriousness and place in art history instead of letting the grand scale stature and majestic presence of her work speak for themself (mainly due to the below comments she made in the documentary).

Steir goes on to say:

“I come back the next day from painting- look what the paint did- the paintings make itself.”

I was dangerously reminded of my graduate school days where I experienced a disregard in working from the recesses of the unconscious, the passive- irrational- the unhinged.

A devalued right brain, misunderstood.

And - dare I say the generalization of male vs. female strengths.

In the west these more “feminine” traits feel more like like a second class citizen in comparison to something seen in the intellectual- logical thought out plans of execution- analyzed - defined and explained.

In defense of Steir,

If we put in our 10,000 hours to a craft, I believe we have a right to say I let a picture paint itself. A cohort - with divine nature - a letting go into the zen mind.

A natural sense of discernment has developed in her mature style.

A forward thinking dialogue to historical references ie.. “abstract expressionism”. When a painting did not work- she knew it and would just put it away.

“Let it become itself - then be affected by it.”

Her practice, to remove the ego. That is not to say she did not have an ego in her everyday life - but who knows, maybe her mythos was just this practice in the work itself- remove the ego.

I feel the art world has neglected so many important women - Pat Steir being one of them.

But- I am seeing a younger generation taking time to write, curate exhibits, make films and bring important female artists to the forefront of our attention.

This is where sensitivity comes in.

To keep ourselves in check and search out the subtle cues of what is being communicated and by who.

You can see the Trailer to Pat Steir: Artist; here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVlMJgLZpnU

The full Documentary:

https://www.amazon.com/Pat-Steir-Artist/dp/B089WHR37B

So all you men and women out there-

What are your thoughts?

Do you feel our culture values intellect over feeling connection?

Any setbacks or breakthroughs you can share on how a balance can be found-

and how important is that?

I would love to know your thoughts in the comment box below.