Up a Milky River
Artist
Betha Gutsche
MediumPastel; ink; crayon; oil pastel; charcoal; on paper
DimensionsOverall: 25 1/4 x 12 7/8 in. (64.1 x 32.7 cm)
a: 8 x 6 1/8 in. (20.3 x 15.6 cm)
b: 8 1/8 x 6 1/8 in. (20.6 x 15.6 cm)
c: 8 x 6 1/8 in. (20.3 x 15.6 cm)
8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in. (21 x 15.9 cm)
e: 8 x 6 1/4 in. (20.3 x 15.9 cm)
f: 8 1/4 x 6 3/8 in. (21 x 16.2 cm)
ClassificationsDrawing
Credit LineSeattle Public Utilities 1% for Art Portable Works Collection
Water is the symbol of subconscious levels of awareness; immersion in water symbolically equals immersion in an experience that is beyond our deliberate notions of reality. When I awoke one morning from a vivid dream of immersion in a river of milky water, I sat down immediately to try to capture in paint some of the intensity of that dream. This was the result. The river is a powerful metaphor for the flow of life, the serpentine path carved through experience, the force that is ever-changing yet constant. –Artist statement
