BRATTLEBORO-K. Curtis presents “White Space: An inquiry into nothingness,” an exhibit opening at the Harmony Collective, 49 Elliot St., Friday, March 6, at 6 p.m. and will be on display until April 28.
Curtis said in a news release that these 13 new works “examine the questions why do we have to have more, do more, be more? When is it ever enough? And even more importantly who do we not get to be if this is the design of our lives?”
She said she wanted to understand why it is so difficult for her to invite the White Space. Playing with her well-established whimsical style and researching the art heroes from the past, she found that this inquiry has been examined by many notable musicians, artists and great thinkers.
“White space, or ‘negative space’ as it is often called, provides balance and clarity. It takes away what is not needed in order to make room for what is essential,” she said. “All that clutter obscures what is actually important. White space is the white canvas so anything is possible allowing us to focus on what really matters.”
Curtis found white space transformed into emptiness and then nothingness as the inquiry advanced.
“I observed my resistance to the white space, and had an epiphany that this lack of emptiness is pervasive all over my life,” she said. “My home and studio are filled with everything I will need for future projects if I live to be 100. My time is filled with appointments and commitments. My life is filled with rules and formulas for getting it right.”
The big question is: What did this inquiry teach her? She said she is taking baby steps toward clearing some white space. She calls one day a month “‘Nothing Day,’ in which my slate is clean and none of the rules apply.”
Harmony Collective is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, contact curtisk@together.net.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.