Artist Statement:

It’s often said that figurative art and abstract art are opposites. According to science, our neuro circuity is hardwired to prefer images we can identify, which makes abstract art more difficult to process. There is no manual or glossary which reveals what an abstract painting might mean, which leaves it open for interpretation. Once we jump the hump of being comfortable with “not knowing,” we can then investigate the painting through our own eyes, responding to composition, line, form, colour, brushwork, tonalities, and texture. We do the same with figurative art, of course, but as the artist has already given us so many clues, so much information with recognizable objects or persons, it may be that when viewing the familiar, we don’t delve deeper than needed.

But what is it like from an artist’s perspective? Primarily a figurative artist, I’m compelled, now and then, to explore the challenge of abstraction. Most recently, over some days at a cottage with friends, where, given the rain, we each pursued our own projects, I took over the dining table with watercolours, brushes, paper, and acrylics. And I fell in love. Enamoured with how acrylics and paper meshed, hours evaporated. If only there was canvas with the texture and absorbency of paper, acrylic might become a favoured medium. … Meanwhile, I continue with figurative works while also mucking with abstracts.

“That must be difficult,” a friend said. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but she was right. IT IS difficult to juggle these two simultaneously. Various neuro studies suggest a range of results regarding how each art form activates the brain. Whatever’s going on up there, the one certainty is that I’m dealing with two very disparate languages, the first which articulates itself intricately like a well-worn path while the other is like unfamiliar music without words to guide you. Instead, it snags you by a gesture, a colour, a shape … and so, we follow it.

Lastly, be it figurative or abstract, there is a balance between what you want to do (the idea) and allowing yourself enough freedom to get there (intuition). To achieve the latter, I am constantly reminding myself that what begins as one thing might, if you allow it, become something quite different but far more exciting.