GeorgiaO’Keeffemistrustedwords.Sheclaimedcolorasherlanguage.Nevertheless,inthecourseofherlonglife,thegreatAmericanpainterwrotethousandsofletters--morethantwothousandsurvivebetweenherandherhusband,AlfredStieglitz,alone.JenniferSinor’sLettersLiketheDayhonorsO’Keeffe,hermodernistlandscapes,and,crucially,thevalueofletterwriting.Inthepainter’scorrespondence,wefindanintimacywithwordsthatisallherown.Takingherlettersasatouchstone,SinorexperimentswiththelimitsoflanguageusingthesameaestheticthatdroveO’Keeffe’sart.Throughmagnification,cropping,andjuxtaposition--hallmarksofmodernism--SinorexploresthelargertruthsatthecenterofO’Keeffe’swork:howwesee,capture,andcreate.LettersLiketheDaypursuesthehighestfunctionofart--totakeone’smediumtotheedgeandthenpushbeyond.
LIKE NEVERTHELESS CRUCIALLY and DAY
