Color
and Shape
“I
found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other
way—things I had no words for.”
Georgia
O’Keeffe
I
recently looked at a house that was on the market to see if I might be
interested in it. When I walked in, everything was tidy, re-done, updated and
other descriptive words used in real estate listings. And everything was white—white
walls, white fixtures, white curtains, white countertops, white furniture—white
everything. This is the new look, the minimalist approach to staging a house.
What is does for me, however, is make me short of breath.
I
wonder what being surrounded by white means in our current culture. Is it
simply arising at this moment to offset the darkness of this pandemic year;
does it represent cleanliness in a year when we wash our hands more in one day
than we previously did in a week? The way humans live with color is well
documented culture to culture. We see this in street scenes from Venice, New
Orleans, Haiti, Jarlsberg, Chinatown in San Francisco. Each has its own flavor
and personality, communicated through shades and depth of color. We love brilliant
color. In Guatemala, each village weaving cooperative has its own color
combinations. One knows where a piece was made simply by the colors in its
tapestries.
So,
what does it mean when everything is white? We would not be confused, I think,
if we walked into a house where all the walls were painted black. We would
probably back out slowly, expecting Jack Nicolson’s voice to come wafting down
the stairwell—no interpretation needed. I think of death when I am immersed in
white. For instance, the beach scenes in Gray’s Anatomy, where Meredith is in
the nether world of coma and sees Derrick, are bathed in white light. He’s
dead, she’s hovering on the brink. It’s meant to be pleasant, soothing even.
Just not for me.
Life is
colorful—it has its white and its black moments, but mostly we live the shades
in between. Color communicates in a way that words do not. What color are you? How
do you use color to communicate who you are? These are not trick
questions—only questions to make you think about yourself. The colors and
shapes with which we surround ourselves affect our mood and our health. They
affect our state of mind. Here are some words from Thomas Moore: “…to the
soul, the most minute details and the most ordinary activities, carried out
with mindfulness and art, have an effect far beyond their apparent
significance.” Your colors should make your heart sing.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment