Abstract Expressionism: Spontaneous, Rebellious, and Boundless
Until recent years, most of my work was representational: portraits, figures, landscapes. And much of my art education was traditional: think technique, form, perspective.
I loved it. It was challenging and rewarding, and it had a relatively clear measuring stick – when you got it right, it was great; when you got it wrong, it was clearly atrocious.
Then, at some point, I fell in love with abstract expressionism.
There was no clear “good” or “bad” anymore, yet it was harder to get right. The challenge felt exhilarating.
And while I still relied on my beloved foundations of value, color, and composition, abstract expressionism felt unrestricted: It was “coloring outside the lines” to an infinite degree.
Even more, it was all about spontaneity, idiosyncrasy, and spilling your emotional guts. Count me in!
In abstraction expressionism, I found boundlessness. I could take all of my sensitivity, messiness, and impatience and pour it onto the canvas.
And it connected with viewers; without the obvious representation of a “thing,” people could make their own interpretations and emotional attachments.
I found healing, too. My bottled-up energy had someplace to go.
I would be remiss not to point out that the ever-accelerating emergence of AI didn’t also play a part in my rebellious feelings about representational art. (Rebelliousness, by the way, is a hallmark of abstract expressionism.) I don’t judge the use of AI by artists, but it’s certainly changing the terrain of the art world. At its best, it motivates creativity. At its worst, it inhibits or replaces it. With AI, we get remarkable images that elicit lots of “oohs” and “aahs”. But those incredible (and otherwise impossible) works will, as things do, swiftly become common and bland.
All that’s to say that I love how abstract expressionism feels authentic and genuine. I love imperfections and tactility in art (and in writing, too; I write my own content!).
And I love living in a world where we can see the layers of effort and the evolution of a self.
I’d love for you to visit my Original Works page to see if there’s a piece that resonates with you.
Sending you peace, love, and painting,
Julie
