When I started making paintings I soon realised that complete abstraction still needs a well-thought out structure and that colour, form and rhythm should create both balance and tension. In fact I think successful abstract works demand a higher quality as paintings than successful figurative works, because figuration has a story to fall back on. This is also why successful abstract paintings are so much harder to pull off than good figurative paintings.
The best abstract paintings hold their form, colour, rhythm and materiality in an all-over harmonious structure, without one cancelling out the other. They also need both space and depth – optical depth, without perspective – but not too much of either, or else the balance of the whole is disturbed.
When everything comes together, you have the special magic of a great abstract painting which grabs and holds your attention and transports you beyond the mere visual experience.
All of this is what I would like to achieve in my paintings. Hopefully I sometimes succeed.
