Layer upon layer, was the theme of the recent exhibition by George de Decker at the Husk Gallery. I have a ritual of popping into the gallery, received and accompanied by Ingrid, invited into the creation flow of the artist she currently presents: Here, many whites. White in white. White rice paper, paintings containing space, vertical and horizontal lines are spare, meditative. Anything of colour is even more so intense. Yes, silence is the birth of music, and white is the birth of colour. The search for essence – each of us to pursue for himself/herself. More and more I sense I create myself through letting creation find and flow through me. I have bought the CD by George de Decker connected to the white collection: Goldberg variations revisited. I listen, listen, and listen again. It is always new.
The exhibition has evoked also a theatre play that I once saw in Brussels: Yasmina Reza: Art. It is a conversation between three friends heated by the fact that one of them has bought a painting: a white one. With white stripes. The dialogues are crispy and add all the colours of emotions to the white.
Much time we spend unconsciously protecting, creating shields against the wounds never visited, embraced. Vacant eyes darting, buzz and chatters, numbed, separated by illusions. There is art bringing us to the core. There is breath whispering all is fine. There is curiosity overcoming anxiety. Yes, we have been conditioned, all of us. We all feel all. Words are strong – uttered or written. Once we realize that the shields may get thinner, more transparent, or gone completely, the experience of life is direct and deep. No avoiding, no suppressing, no fighting. Lot of energy then transforms into creating. Being a channel of creative force is the perfect way of being.
From the books currently/recently read: Deborah Levy: Cost of Living. A short novel about the first post-divorce year – intense, empowering, without a single critical word towards the guy who once was there – the co-creator of home. This has given me enormous flux of gratitude. And the very amusing side-effect of divorcing the author points out: instead of slow degradation, the body fills with the energy of new beginnings – it becomes strong and vibrant. Hm, I am not advertising divorce, only yielding to life with its surprises and open possibilities.
The other one: Jhumpa Lahiri: Whereabouts. The author I have been following faithfully. She is a stunning story-teller, pure and precise. What both books have in common, and in common with Georges de Deckers perhaps, is the individual pursue, steady inquiry into the essence. Each of us unique.
Animus. Anima.
And here is a link to a video from the theatre play at Wolubilis ten years ago:
https://www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_art-de-yasmina-reza-a-wolubilis?id=6322363
Husk Gallery blog: https://www.huskgallery.com/blog/33/
