Contemporary Art Gallery 4
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Expressing Meaning Through Shape, Form and Color
Making contemporary abstract art provides an opportunity to express both cultural and personal meaning in a number of ways. In fact, whether we're consciously aware of it or not, we are always expressing ourselves by the choices we make when we paint.
By being born in a particular place and time, we are automatically part of that culture and can't help but be influenced by it. When we see a traffic STOP sign, for example, we know that this particular size and shape and color mean STOP. This association will always be with us. Add them all up, and you have a rich vocabulary of meaning to draw from.
An artist is also influenced visually by all the art that's been done before. Unless we hide ourselves away so that we never see any other art, we can't help but be affected by the visual expressions that we see. No one can "discover" the drip painting method now that Jackson Pollack made it famous. A painter today who uses that method is, instead, making a comment on Pollack.
In addition to cultural meaning, each of us has our own personal history that affects how we express ourselves. The color pink may mean something odious to me, for example, if I was forced to wear it as a child when I didn't want to. The shape of a ring or "O" might give you a sense of choking if a mean uncle tortured you by blowing smoke rings in your face when you were young. There is a vast storehouse of associations we make with forms, shapes and colors. Signs and symbols abound in our personal histories.
When I paint, I don't purposefully think about expressing meaning. I'm having fun with the paint, working fast over the whole canvas. Other times I'm responding to what's already there, nudging the composition or adding a new color I think the painting needs. When I paint, I'm thinking "visually," not "verbally." It's only standing back later and looking at the canvas that a word might come to mind.
Sometimes a painting will mean one thing to me and something else entirely to a viewer. We each bring our own personal sign-making to the task. I tend to be more interested in the painting process, and that is what my vision is focused on, not the symbols and signs. They are still there, however, for those who wish to read them.
