Created for 20/20: Twenty Women of Vision, a group show at Fresh Paint Gallery in La Jolla, California, in 2020. We call our group Twenty Women Artists, or just TWA. 

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I am fascinated by the vivid contrasts between opinion and truth these days. Regardless of the topic, we each have our unique perspectives. Sometimes, a point of view can appear so self-evident that we want to stay entrenched in our version of the truth, rather than take the time to explore a different viewpoint.

 

I learned long ago that my ideas about myself, my surroundings and the world at large didn't always overlap with those of others. As children, I think we often reacted to different ideas with a sense of openness and appreciation. Who among us did not enjoy as a child learning a new approach to an old game, or comparing with a friend what animal shape we saw in a cloud, or that pairing peanut butter and chocolate actually made pretty good sense? Yet, once the wisdom and experience of adulthood began to seep into our brains, we actually began to do the opposite of what we once instinctively did as children.

 

The German filmmaker Wim Wenders said, "The more opinions you have, the less you see." With "Saturday" and "Sunday" I hoped to begin a conversation about opinions and truth, and about the value of different perspectives. What you see here today - what you see as dynamic or uninspiring, what you find clear or puzzling, what makes you feel happy or angry - will almost certainly differ from the view of the person standing next to you. Go ahead and ask - and consider the answer could enhance your own perspective. After all, if you always see things as they are, you'll never be able to see things for what they could be. 

 

Note: I completed these pieces shortly before the twin tragedies of the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide grief over the death of George Floyd in early 2020. It makes me wonder if those events lend a different perspective to what you might see today in these paintings. 

 

Anaïs Nin — “We see the world not as it is, but as we are.” And we are always changing.

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