Second, Out of My Head 1915

Curator: This is Georgia O'Keeffe's "Second, Out of My Head," a pencil drawing from 1915. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Well, immediately it's unsettlingly calm. Like a muted dream, all soft edges and greys, threatening to slide right off the page. Is it just me, or does the composition feel precariously balanced? Curator: Interesting. From a material perspective, O'Keeffe's choice of pencil is crucial here. It's an accessible medium, readily available. Yet, she transforms it into something almost ethereal, pushing the boundaries of what we expect from a simple pencil drawing. There’s a real intimacy inherent in that direct hand-to-paper process, linking the artist's physical actions to the final product. Editor: Yes, it feels so raw, immediate. I keep getting pulled between those almost brutal, black flower-like forms at the top and the fluid, river-like forms beneath. They feel completely disconnected, yet they bleed into each other in a way. I wonder if the stark contrasts mirror internal turmoil, the attempt to reconcile opposing forces within her… or perhaps within the world around her. Curator: Perhaps. Consider also that O'Keeffe was deeply engaged with the avant-garde art circles of her time. The modernist style of abstraction was, in itself, a challenge to traditional representation. "Out of My Head" suggests a turning inward, rejecting external reality in favor of subjective experience. And the use of readily available paper as a medium reinforces this turning from grand artistic statement toward personal expression. Editor: True. It really gets under my skin, makes me want to grab a pencil myself. Though I suspect I wouldn't get quite the same result. Curator: Well, O’Keeffe certainly had a knack for blurring the line between the tangible and the imagined. Her dedication to drawing really does bring forth something powerful. Editor: I'll say. A quietly unnerving invitation to confront your own "out of my head" spaces. Thanks for pointing out what makes this so unique, and the power of O'Keeffe’s intimate processes.