Negative Space
January 17th, 2012 § 4 Comments
I’m captivated by negative space.
The space that isn’t the thing: the blue between the branches of a bare winter tree, the angles drawn by a box of pencils spilled atop a desk, the shapes that fall between the shadows of a picket fence on a summer sidewalk. Negative space. The space that isn’t the thing. The space that connects.
Sometimes it happens that during our yoga practice the asana becomes a single intention. A shape to hold in passive static until we decide – or someone decides for us – that it is time to move.
This can happen if we’re practicing a slow flow or lightening quick vinyasa. The shape becomes the goal. There’s a rhythm and a reason for our wanting to be there. When I arrive at my full expression of the asana I’m practicing I’ve arrived at someplace familiar. Someplace balanced. Home.
But what about the negative space? What about the space between the shapes our bodies sketch? What about the movements we create as we shift toward trikonasana or sirsasana? And what about the breaths we draw around that movement? Shouldn’t the journey we take to create the asana be considered, too?
As you practice this week notice the negative space. Connect with the space that isn’t the thing.
This post is a gem… to the artist I am and it is what I teach as an artist in learning to see. Thank you for another practical twist – another way of saying it.
Thank you, Starbear! I loved learning about negative space when I studied art in college – I’ve seen everything a little differently ever since.
I’ve been doing just that with the mural this week.
Excellent. And I’ve been thinking about that mural. When do we get to see some new pics?