Josephine Halvorson (b. 1981) is the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s first artist-in-residence. Alongside two works by Georgia O’Keeffe, the exhibition at the Museum features eleven paintings by Halvorson made at and around O’Keeffe’s home and studio in Abiquiú and her home at Ghost Ranch—both of which are an hour northwest of Santa Fe, NM.
Halvorson uses acrylic gouache, an opaque, water-based medium that dries quickly, allowing the artist to capture her observations in the moment. The paintings’ frames are composed in part of earth collected at the site by the artist. The rulers screen-printed on the largest paintings make reference to O’Keeffe’s own yardstick.
With the exception of an animal’s skull, Halvorson foregoes O’Keeffe’s more familiar motifs, focusing instead on the intimacy of an open cupboard or a well-worn stump-turned-stool. Exploring themes of memory and commemoration, she connects past and present. The sum total of these indoor and outdoor still lifes evokes a sense of place, a common ground that Halvorson shares with O’Keeffe.
Land Acknowledgement
The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum recognizes the lands of the Pueblo people, on which the sites of the Museum and the historic properties stand as well as where the paintings in this exhibition were created. We recognize and honor Pueblo elders, past and present, and celebrate the vitality of their people today and into future generations. The Museum offers this with humility, in acknowledgment of the need to confront the ongoing injustices of settler colonialism.