Translation and Abstraction (Josie)

For the mindset of this assignment, Abstraction and Translation, the two artists that served as my inspiration were abstract artists, Sharon Kingston and Agnes Martin.

As one can observe through their artworks, it can be seen that each have different styles of portraying their subjects.  For instance, in Agnes Martin, there is heavy emphasis in geometric shapes and lines. Quite contrary to her earliest works that played with organic forms, her current abstract expressionist art style resembles to that of astute and definite notions.  With geometric lines, the mathematical concepts details to the audience that there are precise movements that do not deter from their designated path. In addition, her devoted following to Zen Buddhist belief further promotes the idea of “acceptance” and “un-interruption”.  As quoted by her, her works represent “a world without objects, without interruption… or obstacle. It is to accept the necessity of… going into a field of vision as you would cross an empty beach to look at the ocean”.

In contradiction, Sharon Kingston is a local Seattle-based artist whose artwork mainly consists of clouds and transcendent, atmospheric pieces.  Unlike Martin who placed emphasis on the geometric model, Kingston does not center her pieces on following a strict, linear path. Rather, her process of oil-based painting offers a flowing and un-contained effect.  In my favorite piece by her, “flowing and unfolding”, I am captivated by the broad brushstrokes and the contrast of juxtaposing colors of light pink and white with dark blue and grey.

In summary, while Martin’s practice is on geometric shapes that offer “limits”, Kingston’s works on flowing subjects offers the feeling of “limitlessness”.  In my art piece, I aspired to combine both notions to confuse my audience on the concept of constraint and placement. When visualizing my work, the idea of constraint can be seen through the grid lines, however the background of the blended brushstrokes contradict the notion of constraint.  Therefore the question that arises is, “are the brushstrokes confined to a secluded box?” Next, the idea of placement is promoted by the use of grids. Grids are often represented as tools to indicate or locate a certain spot for an object. However in my piece, the flowing brushstrokes cause the audience to think if “the brush strokes were purposefully placed in the grid and that there is a certain designation for them?”.  Therefore in summary, the ideas of limits and limitless are questioned in my piece.