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Was Georgia O'Keeffe a nature mystic? The Flowers and Bones of Georgia O'Keeffe examines mystical philosophies prevalent during O'Keeffe's development as an artist and their influence on her. The influence of mysticism is sought through the examination of selected flower and bone paintings by the modernist artist. I have viewed selected works through an ethnobotanical and anthropological lens, seeking depth and meaning in the artist's work beyond the current interpretations which focus on gender, sexuality, and feminism. Through the prism of lotus, jimson flower, poppy, and sand dollar cactus, I have explored their importance to O'Keeffe, as well as the context of these plants in Eastern, Western, and Native American cultures in which she was interested. Ethnobotanical sources and intercultural seminars at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, were included in my research.
In addition, a selection of tree portraits, representations of mystical writers the artist admired, are included. These portraits include The Lawrence Tree (D. H. Lawrence) and Gerald's Tree I and II (Gerald Heard), as well as Chestnut Grey and Grey Tree, an old oak at Lake George, which was a landmark on the Stieglitz property where it is rumored O'Keeffe secretly buried Alfred Stieglitz's ashes.
An investigation of animal bones that O'Keeffe found in the desert, juxtaposed with flowers, clouds, and landscape painting, linked life and death—heaven and earth. Ghost Ranch in the high mountain desert of New Mexico became a source of energy and creativity for the artist, where many of her bone paintings were executed.
Moving O'Keeffe's artistic activity from the page to the stage in Days with Juan, a full-length play, explores her later years. Being a victim of macular degeneration, the artist loses much of her central vision. One can only imagine what a crisis this can be for an artist whose vision is critical to her painting. Her young assistant, Juan, opens up a new avenue for her creativity through clay, building a pottery for her at Ghost Ranch. Juan's role of handyman, assistant, and friend keeps O'Keeffe going. The play explores O'Keeffe's relationship to Juan, as well as her relationship to her own life and death in the context of her mystical beliefs.
The characters in the play are composites of different people close to O'Keeffe. The play is strictly the writer's interpretation; the point where O'Keeffe's life intersects with the playwright's. Therefore, it is a work of fiction based on research probing deeper truths about the artist.
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