Process Of Abstraction

I found these images of a painting I began in my third year. It was because I had stopped watching the news and found out about the typhoon that had hit a part of the world and it disturbed me I was unaware so many people was suffering. I was propelled in to a shock wave of feeling disconnected and found a urge to reconnect through a painting. This canvas was recycled and there was no harming of the earth in this production btw. 

What I wanted to share was how I started with this imagery and ideas and then over time I completely went over the typhoon inspired work ... Which I do not have a picture of the "final piece" ... But I do know it then evolved into a huge angel like figure in deep purples and pinks and blues. Again I completely washed over this stage with white! Left over emulsion in the studio space and used a wall roller to cover it entirely. I then was handed some left over blue paint from a studio friend to which I threw on the canvas and added water with and left with intention of this becoming an interesting background. 

Over the next couple of weeks I had it spread out in the studio and I would rock the water back and forth along the canvas and add more blue or more water just to be playful and allow the subconscious flow from the paint on the canvas. 

One day I just felt like moving the canas out of the way and stood it up, the water wasn't dry which added the drips you can see on the final image. I really enjoyed the final image but was advised that I wasn't an abstract painter and should be concentrating on my final show piece which again I was advised should be the figure which I had consistently worked with through the years. So I discarded this and thought I'll chop it down to a square so I can then use it to go with another 2 square 5 by 5 canvas I had which already had figure paintings on them. 

I never did paint over the abstract blue and white as a new tutor spoke to me about what I wanted from my art and advised me that art is exsprimentation and that a good piece of art is a good piece of art. I shouldn't paint over it and she told me that actually she sees me more in this painting than she could in the Venus figures I had been painting. She could see the struggle in this and advised that is actually goes with my print making more. It is timeless in infite and I think it's the circle. And also like what Rothko and Newman tried to achieve with their abstracts. Which is what I was writing Vauguely about in my dissertation... But more focussing on art as a way propel the viewer into the now...into an awe inspiring moment but not with a painting or a print or a sculpture or a light space like Turrell but with an experience. And which is what I wanted to do then for my final piece and which is what I'd like to create in art now. To alienate in an environment to pull in the viewer to see. New to see and move in a space and react to it.