“I’m going to search for my star until I find it. It’s hidden in the drawer of innocence, wrapped in a scarf of wonder.” – Michael Jackson
In this painting, Ralph White captures a moment so transient that it is out of focus, allowing us to interpret the action in our own way. The effective use of white adds to the feeling of a girl rushing through the air itself. Her features remain obscured as does her mission. Her dress blends with the trees and the air, and we do not know for sure where nature ends and where she begins. She is a glimpse, and it is up to us to determine why she is there.
The fun of this painting is the creation of the girl’s story, which is clearly up to the viewer to determine. Is she running scared? Is she playing an innocent game on a warm summer evening? Is the scarf for warmth or is it a delicate decoration? Because the imagery is blurry, we can draw upon a wealth of possibilities to explain it.
The Scarf is an invitation to adjust one’s perspective, to change one’s way of thinking and seeing. We are challenged to stop the action, to study a single fragment of time. In that instant, everything becomes nothing, and we are set free from our prejudice. Like the scarf, we are merely a flash of red in the wind.
Explore the possibilities…