There is no abstract, you must always start with something. Picasso
In contemplating where the drive to create the abstractions for my recent projects comes from I am reminded of Anais Nin’s quote, ‘we don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.’ It is obvious to me that I should turn to the abstract, but I appreciate it is not evident to others.
Abstract Expressionism has been an influence throughout my creative work and I often look to it because of its capacity to evoke emotions. Working on the Australian child migrant scheme project was an emotional journey for me and I wanted to capture that emotion in the work. Few of the child migrants saw photographs of themselves until they were much older, if at all, so a representational image did not seem appropriate. In fact, it was just this juxtaposition with my own family album images that I wanted to highlight.
My main influences for this kind of work are German Expressionism (Die Brucke) and the Colour Field paintings of American Abstract Expressionism (AbEx). This covers work from Emile Nolde to Mark Rothko. As a print maker many years ago the dark and brooding landscapes of Nolde[1] were immediately disarming. However, it was when I first saw the work of Rothko that abstract work really became influential, the power of those large colour saturated canvases is unforgettable.
Rothko wanted people to cry in front of his paintings. His works spoke of the expressiveness of the landscape and its darker secrets which seemed a perfect starting point for my own manipulated images. Barnett Newman’s and Clyfford Still’s work have also influenced my use of line (Australian Childhood) and the decollage work (A4&5). Although, the lines in my images are intended to be both sharp and organic and incorporated within the colour rather than bisecting the field as in Newman.
That is not to forget the women who were also important in the genre, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Perle Fine and Alma Thomas.
Helen Frankenthaler: obviously one of the most recognised women of AbEx while her work evolved over her long career it is particularly her colour field work of the 60s and 70s that resonates with me. Paintings like Ocean Drive West #1 (1974) and Sentry (1976) evoke in me an emotional response, they are testimony to Frankenthaler’s interest in the radiance of colour.
I think I kept the same signature, and the same indescribable sensation in my paintings that is not realistic per se but makes people associate and in some way, feel many things…” (Helen Frankenthaler, to Marlow, 1971)
Joan Mitchell: Her work is more gestural in form, but it is her tree and black paintings that attracted me, the inky pools of black absorbing energy and light. Mitchell describes the creation of the tree drawings and paintings as acts of remembering. Not an act of remembering what the tree looked like but what she felt like in recalling a particular tree. This is certainly part of what I was trying to do with Assignment 2 and Australian Childhood, I was trying to convey how I felt about these landscapes, the emotions they engendered and what they might have seemed like to the Migrant Children, rather than what they actually looked like.
Perle Fine: Fine’s cool series places her within AbEx, and she speaks of them as arising from existential concerns. In their use of bold geometrics, they indicate a reference to Rothko, but they are lighter and more delicate in form.
There is a vibrant light that emanates from these works, not blinding or jarring or dizzying. It is an arresting light that remains constant, lending purity – even dignity to essentially emotional statements. John Guren, New York Herald Tribune, 1964
Alma Thomas: Much of Alma Thomas’ work is bright and vibrant and different to the more familiar AbEx artists. She was interested in portraying beauty and was not interested in ‘painting the ugly things in life.’ Some of her work reminds me of Australian Aboriginal dot painting. It is works like her ‘Red Abstraction’ and ‘Moving Heaven and Earth’ that I am drawn to. ‘Red Abstraction’ reminds me of the Sturt Desert Pea of Australia and how it changed as I morphed it in Photoshop.
Thomas, as a female black American, had more prejudices to overcome than most, in her eighties she became the first African American woman to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in 1972. It wasn’t until 2009, She became the first African American woman to have her work included in the White House’s permanent collection.
Contemporary influences:
Two Australian painters are also of interest to me through their use of colour:
- Jill Bryant: I find her colour saturated canvases very evocative. (Jill’s digital images are protected but can be seen on her website)
- Artem Bryl: Bryl’s work has echoes of the colour field movement but I see them as very textural with more interplay between the colour he uses. It is perhaps not a surprise that he mentions Rothko as an influence
Abstract landscape photography:
The work of several abstract photographers has also been helpful in thinking about my assignments and how I might develop my own abstract work from here.
Frances Seward:
My photography is a visual representation of the mind attempting to portray the solid evidence of the internal world. My work is inspired by abstract expressionism as well as Asian artists and explores a psychological journey into inner space. This minimalist photography employs reductionism, as well as phenomenological light and perception, to evoke psychological and emotional landscapes. Artist’s statement. (http://francesseward.com/artist-statement/)
I can relate to Frances’ statement and her attention to evoking ‘psychological and emotional landscapes.’ This is very much what I was aiming for with Australian Childhood.
Vineta Cook: Vineta’s work is spiritually informed. Her focus is on ethereal beauty and encouraging the viewer to slow down and to take time and reflect on the nature of their humanity. She lists Mark Rothko, Edvard Munch, and Mikalojus K. Ciurlionis as influential to her work. She is a painter and a photographer and talks about her creativity being supported by being able to move across mediums, from painting to drawing and photography. Something I also recognise as being helpful to me as my work and ideas develop.
Andrew S Gray: I am inspired by the painterly quality of Andrew’s images and his generosity in sharing his process. I find his images evocative and was interested to find out he was influenced by Impressionism rather than abstract expressionism.
I use the old English master painters of the 19th century, along with the later impressionists as my inspiration to create the work I currently do. A huge influence and someone I actively try and mimic in form and colour scheme is JMW Turner.
Frances Smith (OCA graduate)
Frances Smith’s artist’s statement indicates that she also intends to use an abstract approach to elicit emotions and feelings.
My ethos being to create emotive abstract images of ambience and mood, that evoke inner thoughts and feelings, which are possibly linked to memories or dreams, and are devoid of the minutiae of reality.
On her blog Smith describes her journey from more traditional landscape to evolving a style that was evocative of her own connection to the sea. It was really helpful to have read about her processes and how her various influences (some of which are the same as mine) have impacted on her work.
Observations
At a research workshop a few years ago one of the speakers spoke eloquently about the people that had influenced his work and how he was mindful that they had helped inform and shape his work but that he should not produce pale imitations.
Sometimes it can be helpful to copy (whilst acknowledging the original), it gives a feel for process, style and approach but that is obviously a starting point and not the finale.
… work to bring what you learned into your own art in a way that is true to you, rather than as a direct copy. This originality and uniqueness comes from taking whatever it is that inspires you and pushing it until you enter a new realm that’s entirely yours. Leaver, T (undated) How to be inspired by other arts without copying them. Artwork Archive
In looking at this range of artists I can see how they are all influencing my approach and I recognise the particular elements of their work that appeal to me – like the expression of emotion rather than direct representation. I hope I have made some of those influences my own rather than creating facsimiles.
Sources:
https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/a27c4117-0eaa-403c-b745-60863fd26bc6
https://jillbryant.com.au/works/abstract-landscape
http://www.frankenthalerfoundation.org/
https://joanmitchellfoundation.org/
https://francessmithphotoworks.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/pembroke-copy.jpg
[1] I do want to acknowledge that his personal views including being a member of the Nazi party make this a difficult influence, nonetheless his work was part of my experience as an undergrad