Life Stories

NEW YORK CITY 1969: A QUESTION OF SPIRITUALITY

In 1969, at the opening of my first exhibition in New York City, a critic for the Kansas City Star was in attendance. He approached me after viewing my acrylic sculpture Joy-Pain (Orblitts I), which hung above us from the ceiling. 

He asked me,  “What are your feelings about G-d?”

Surprised by the question, I thought to myself, “why does he want to talk about religion? I want to talk about my art!”

Later in the evening, I was speaking with critic’s wife. I asked her about her husband’s question. She said, “He must have seen something in your work.” 

In the following years, I struggled with the question of where my art was coming from. Through my spiritual search that began with the critic’s question, I gained insight, acceptance and appreciation for the unknowable forces in my life and in my creativity.

Orblitt I,1968, acrylic, 22 x 22 x 22in

In the collection of Mulvane Art Museum