Abstract Expressionism:
As an abstract artist, I belong to a group of artists like me, who are looking at the world mostly from outside the box. Even though, most of that group is formed of abstract artists, each of us looks at the world from different perspectives. The art, that we gather monthly to look at, reflect these differences. Some have more cubistic style. Others look at the word from more conceptual point of view. And some of us look and think of this world as a place for expression, we use the lines,shapes and colors as tools to our way of thinking looking and painting. A wise woman in the group described it once as a part of the spiritual process.
When people say Expressionism Abstract, or Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock comes to mind, with his vest canvases and expression of thoughts and feelings in endless scribble of paint lines, shapes and dots. But since my encounter with Pollocks’ paintings in school, I managed to get to know Abstract Expressionism on his different layers. I saw big work and small artwork. I saw very colorful pieces and monochromatic expression of abstracts, I experienced work that was produced using oils or acrylic, and work that was made using varies materials that formed interesting textures in fascinating layers and layers of expression. Abstract expressionism as expressed also in 3D work of art.
In my past, I started dealing with art, while sculpting realistic figures looking at models, and fast enough, once I got the idea of the gesture of the body, and size of body parts, my brain pulled me toward taking the figures that I started forming and cutting them with a pallet knife in certain places. Once smoothed, the clay stated to look like pieces of thick branches of enchanted trees. That was the moment when I realized that my path was going toward abstract expressionism.
My definition of abstract expressionism is any artwork that explores concepts, feelings, spirituality, thoughts, in lines, shapes, colors, surfaces, forms a world on the canvas. A world of different elements that require most of the viewers imagination to explore into it. My husband explain it to me once as that it is like looking for images at the clouds. Each one of us have different tools to relate and understand the experiences he/she is going through. I believe that not everything needs to have a deep exploration or understanding. In my vision, art should be perceived as, do I like it or not, does it talk to me? What elements I like about the artwork. It should come from your heart, you stomach, and as far as your brain goes, the viewer might want to approach his/her imagination than looking for rational, realistic images in the art. From my artist point of view, it is all about the art process, the time in the studio, when it is only me, the canvas, the materials and the music, forming worlds of colors, big, passionate, and very poetic.