I'm happy to show you two new abstract paintings today (with a way to acquire these paintings--more on that below).
Over the past several years, I've felt a draw towards creating abstract artwork. Maybe this has something to do with the need to break away from reference, as mentioned in the previous newsletter. Or a culmination of that urge. Whenever I tried to paint in a fully abstract mode, it never felt quite right. There was something missing, but I couldn't identify it.
In the absence of something to represent, what is the abstract artist accessing in order to create? I thought I knew the answer, but I was wrong. I mistakenly assumed this could be approached by purely rational/technical means. With many visual tools at my disposal (value, saturation, edges, etc), couldn't I create something good? I was overthinking it. In my abstract experiments, I was painting with my head instead of my heart. All my knowledge of composition and color and value was not enough. Without the crutch of representation, there was something vital missing.
In my representational work, the subject matter is the vessel through which I'm able to access my heart, and so it works well in conjunction with my technical ability—it's the full package. But when there was nothing to represent, I was lost, and I couldn’t understand why. When you take away the visual representation, what are you left with? Feeling. Emotional representation.
Now, finally, I think I’ve come closer to the truth of what it takes to create good abstract art. Unhindered emotion and instinctual movement, backed by an armature of years and years of visual and technical knowledge and experience, a deep understanding and oneness with materials and methods. I think, perhaps, I’m finally starting to understand and appreciate abstract painting, after all these years.
Kandinsky had synesthesia and could hear colors. Colors that were music and which struck a deep emotional chord. I took some inspiration from this factoid, but from the other direction: I decided to use music as a way to bring specific emotional states to the surface of my being, and I painted from those feelings. I selected an album for each and listened to it on repeat until the painting was finished.
My new approach resulted in the following two paintings.
