When I don’t know what to do, I go back to the things I always do—my routine, things I know have worked for me before, things that fill and help pass the time. Reading and writing work for me. Yesterday, I read the words of poet and playwright Muriel Rukeyser: “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.” I could say that I’m not sure why women have felt we can’t tell the truth about our lives, but that would not be true. I know why. I think everyone probably does. The specific details may vary, but the overall truth does not. The world is incapable of hearing the truth.
The arresting pictures of people by Alice Neel give pause, ask us to look deeper, and often evoke a truth we may not be expecting. In each of her paintings, something beneath the surface begs to be revealed, exposed, brought to visibility. It is often in the eyes of her subjects that a provocative truth is silently shared, asking us if we’re willing and available to see.
