Salvador Dalí
1944
As my practice continues to expand and grow, my work is becoming more and more abstract. Abstraction is defined as the process of taking away or removing characteristics from something in order to reduce it to a set of essential characteristics. In art abstraction can mean a few things, one the moving away from depicting objects from life (as they actually are) reducing them to shapes, colors, or marks. For example turning an object upside down or zooming so that the whole can longer be seen. Another device of abstraction made famous by Salvador Dali, is the placement of real life objects in usual places. The above image titled "Dream caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking up" with an extraordinarily long title, is one of my favorites of Dali.
Often times because abstraction is not very well understood, uninformed viewers see it as simple or easy. But the reality is moving towards abstraction is far more difficult. More often than not, artists slowly move in that direction by employing some abstract elements into their pieces. Although my work is firmly rooted in nature, there has been a move towards the abstract, as my earlier paintings are far more representational. For example the inspiration for the below piece "Blue Abstraction" came from a series of photographs. I photographed plant matter in the autumn; depicting fallen and slumped foliage. Working from these photographs I painted layers of the forms over one another, giving the plants an almost anthropomorphic quality.
As of late, there has been a even bigger move towards the abstract in my work. I have been experimenting with my palette knife applying fresh swashes of paint, in vibrant colour to depict the falling leaf. This development is the abstract device of reduction; reducing the leaf to colours and shapes. The result has lead to a new approach to my work.
"Blue Abstraction", oil on canvas, 2005
detail work in progress
This work in progress, illustrates the use of palette knife and abstraction by "reduction"
