Cold Thoughts on Abstraction

Brrr! It has been a cold, snowy week in Chicago. I genuinely love winter, but even I'm ready for the temperature to be above zero. This kind of winter light though... it has always been my favorite kind of light.

I've been musing about the line between abstraction and representation this week. I find myself often caught between the inevitable seduction of painterly abstraction and my own deep-rooted passion for representation. Some preliminary thoughts:

1. Everything is abstract.

- in so much that everything can be broken down into the most basic formal elements, abstracted to simplicity

2. Abstraction and representation are stylistic concerns.

- at a certain point, how one paints is ultimately less meaningful than what one chooses to paint (however, it is no less important)

3. Everything is representational.

- in so much that every painting depicts something, whether it is a gestural mark or a rendered portrait

4. Language is problematic.

15"x15" oil on canvas 2015