Abstracts
Unabashed, complete joy in color, shape, line and texture and contrasts and patterns inspires much of my work which is without any subject matter other than the elements themselves. These nonobjective compositions are intended to celebrate and communicate my delight in the visual and tactile world and hopefully lift viewers’ spirits. The deliberation required to solve a puzzle accompanies my every effort to achieve an aesthetically pleasing composition. Modulating contrasts of subtle to bold in colors and textures and soft to hard edges in shapes as they interact on the page are engaging aspects of composing on the page. I also like to introduce contrasts of boldly free, gestural strokes contrasting rigidly disciplined straight lines. Or I may add diagonal lines to further energize predominantly curvilinear compositions. Creating the work is like solving a puzzle that talks back. Once a work begins the visual dialogue begins. What is already on the page tells you where to place the next shapes or how to adjust size relationships, color intensities, or other variables in composition. The work often tells you what to do next. The subconscious seems to often interpret the “voices” from the page.
Sometimes subject matter is the impetus to creating a work, but usually with departure from the realistic appearance of the form. Objects may be illogically juxtaposed and spatial relationships may also defy logic. These abstract compositions may include double imagery or what I have come to think of as visual puns where the same shape simultaneously functions with two apparent identities. A propensity for verbal puns and other word play has become a part of my work, most often in the titles.
