Abstraction

Abstraction is a curious term for me. It suggests an alternative view, different from what we experience in the "real" world. It seems to indicate what the artist is painting is not “real”. To me, abstract paintings are not different from realistic paintings from the point of view being "real".

Abstract paintings have often been described as lacking recognizable objects. The important term in the previous sentence is; “recognizable”. This is the key to unlocking understanding abstract painting.

From the time we entire this world as a human being, we are taught to label the things we see. A mother show's her new born baby an object and calls it "daddy". She points to a beautiful colored thing and calls it a "flower". This labeling of objects teaches the child to define everything it sees. As a result, by the time we are an adult, we have ingrained in our nervous system a need to label objects. And why do we need to label things? It is because we need certainty due to fear that we create the word abstraction. Letting go of certainty is the key.

In reality, humans define what they see based on our experiences. We create objects in our minds. We gather all the molecules up and create object called a tree. Society defines this as an acceptable object and makes sure the newly born baby’s mind “works” on seeing it the way we do. But if you look at tree under a microscope, there is nothing that looks like a tree, it’s just molecules.

If we let go of this need for certainty, the need to define everything we see as an object, beauty in art reveals itself. All of my paintings are objects, they are real to me. When I paint, I let go of the need to paint something that society has defined as an object. I simply paint what I see in my subconscious mind. My objects reveal themselves as the painting progresses. I’ll discuss this more in another post.