Exploring abstraction

I wanted to find more current artists working with abstract painting. I lean towards older, well known artists and tend to forget about the talent alive and well today. I could easily have reached for the closest article on Jackson Pollock or Cecily Brown, but these are artists I already acknowledge when making my own work. I therefore wanted to explore exciting new artists who are actively producing work now that I have never before been aware of.
I explored artsy in order to find contemporary abstract artists:
https://www.artsy.net/article/francesca-gavin-10-new-artists-to-watch-in-abstract-painting

From this link, I found some stand out names:

• KIKA KARADI
• FRANK AMMERLAAN
• LIAM EVERETT

KIKA KARADI

Oil based ink on linen

"The paintings of Kika Karadi are marked by a parallelism between her methodology and content. Formally speaking, her images appear not so much painted as ‘developed’ over the course of screening various noir movies. The rapidity of each session, painted to coincide with the exact running time of the selected title, is belied by the large scale and intricate textures of the surface. On the one hand, each painting is the consequence of a meticulous, almost alchemical process involving inks, powders, solvents and coatings that nevertheless record every trace of thought and movement across the canvas. On the other hand, the sources that Karadi uses are the cult horror films of the 30’s and 40’s, such as White Zombie, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Island of Lost Souls, The Black Cat, and The Hound of the Baskervilles."
- http://cargocollective.com/kikakaradi

"Building compositions with masking tape, cardboard and crude cut out shapes and removing paint with razor blades to create negative space, Karadi's large, monochrome, one shot process "action abstractions" implement a wide array of painterly techniques. These simple stark abstractions remain aloof to the self conscious act of painting, the distanced results of an almost mechanical action."
- http://www.jonathanvinergallery.com/artists/kika_karadi

I took this description of the artists manner of working and tried applying it to my own process. I created shapes out of sellotape, along with a pattern, of texture and shade, on a board and printed the taped up paper. The results varied. With some, I pulled the sellotape away to build up the layers but some worked well with the sellotape still intact.

For those which I did remove the sellotape, I ended up with a number of painted strips. In keeping with the idea of "poor art", I decided to keep hold of these. I then had the idea of reapplying them in a new manner, almost like Barbara Smith and her reapplication of hair onto her clothing, so they became the main piece, rather than just scraps of another.

I liked the idea of using print, for I feel it is a way of easily being experimental and expressive with the marks and prints made. There is a carelessness allowed here and that makes the work seem exciting, for you do not have to be concerned about the outcome being good.

A number of different experiments carried out, inspired by Kika Karadi

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=b03ea2e1337cfda4ee389144b&id=35b021bf4c&e=4ffed70a33
http://www.artnews.com/2013/04/24/contemporary-abstraction/
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/15728/1/the-return-of-abstract-art