Abstraction #1
of several studies
from Larry Moore workshop
5.75 x 7.75 inches
Acrylic on panel

I signed up for Larry Moore’s workshop on abstraction because I wanted to understand abstract art. I wanted to explore how practicing abstraction might advance my work.

Larry introduced us to many artists working in abstraction. Some of the work had recognizable imagery, and some of it was completely non-representational. As we looked at it, most of us tried to see images in the work. As humans, we have a natural tendency to try to make order out of chaos. We look for faces as we tried to recognize faces of our caregivers as infants. We need to recognize danger, so we look for camouflaged alligators in the swamp. We crave the structure of plastic tubs of stuff out of the clutter in the garage. But the abstract artist may have intended to convey a feeling or a concept and not an image. The viewer has to suppress some natural tendencies to see what the artist intended.

After coming home and thinking more about abstraction, I realized I still didn’t have a good definition of abstraction. I started with the dictionary definition of abstract.

• Adjective: an idea, not having physical existence
• Verb: to extract or summarize
• Noun: a summary or concentration of essentials

Abstract nouns are ideas that can’t be experienced with the senses. They are emotions or concepts; anger, love, grief, loyalty, chaos, brilliance, peace.

Abstract art occupies the middle ground on a continuum from representation to non-representation. It may contain recognizable (although not realistic) images. On the other extreme, there is no recognizable image at all, and the art is about color or line or other components of art. All these variations are abstraction.

So, if I may over-simplify, the abstract artist is painting an idea, and not a thing. We are trying to make visible something that can’t be experienced with the senses. Sounds easy enough, right?

What’s your experience with abstract art? Do you look for the alligator or do you try to understand the artist’s concept? If you paint abstractly, do you find it more or less challenging than realism?