Ok, I lied, I’m not planning to give you the exact steps to understand abstract art. I want to share the way I look at it, how I connect with it and what I get from it. It may or may not work for you, you may have different perspective on that and that is totally fine 🙂

First of all I need to say that I’m drawn to abstract art like a bear to honey, I’m drawn to textures, to colour, to lines, shapes, I’m excited about it’s relations, I love when they interact and overlap, I love the depth and underlaying layers, the rythm, harmony out of chaos – all that gives me thrill and excitement. And I want to be clear – not all abstract art gives me a thrill. Some do and some don’t. Some give me joy and excitement and other abstract art is uncomfortable even unpleasent to me. Other abstract art seems boring and totally uniteresting and all that is ok. We all have different sensitivity and different taste. We all have different moods and we have different emotional needs. And I’m very intentional about saying emotional needs!

Cause depending on this you will like one type of art better than other. I’m attracted to raw, wild and exciting art cause I love everything that is unexpected, spontaneous and vivid. It fulfills the needs of my soul on an emotional level and that makes me happy. If you’re like me, you may love similar art but it’s probable that you are different and therefore you’ll be drawn to something else. So please do not ever follow some else’s opinion on art. Use your own sensitivity.

First – I divide abstract art into two types – that which I’m drawn to and that which I am not. If I’m not drawn to it I basically don’t spend time on it.

Second – I look at it and I feel it, if it gives me thrill, joy, excitement, if it fires my soul then I know I love it and that is the kind of art that I want to surround myself with either by purchasing a painting or just coming back to the picture of it from time to time.

So how to look at abstract art? Look at it with an open heart and soul and don’t judge. Switch your logical mind off. It will only confuse you. Logical mind looks for associations, it needs to find something familiar to be able to interpret and that’s not possible in looking at abstract art. Abstract is deprived from form. Simply look at it and feel it. How does it make you feel? Does it make you feel happy? At peace? Relaxed? Excited? Sad? Indifferent? Bored? Uneasy? Overwhelmed? Is this how you want to feel? 

Third – if the artwork does not fire my soul but it attracts my attention and makes me stop for a moment I take note of the artist and I research her or him, I look at other artworks. I read all that is possible about the artist, the bio, the inspirations etc. During that process either I connect with the artist and his work starts to resonate with me more and more or the other way around – I see that it is totally not for me.

Fourth – usually when I look at the art that I’m drawn to I feel happy, more connected to myself, less focused on the outside and more on the inside, as if the abstract transported me out of my typical mindset run and triggered by everything that surrounds me and into the richness of my inner side. That’s what abstract gives me, it allows me to take the focus out of what’s familiar, as if I began to arise new to myself. It refreshes, balances and puts me back on track, silences negativity that drains and blocks me. It simply liberates and makes me happy on all levels.

I hope it’ll help you gain your own perspective on abstract art. Tell me, how is it with you?

I’m an abstract painter with the mission to create bold and raw abstract paintings that give excitement and joy.