Working in the Abstract

In looking at this idea of a stream of consciousness, I wanted to try and explore it with my area: that of painting. I wanted to look at how it can be altered to suit a diferernt art form, other than just literature. 

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20120822/ENT/120829906?p=1&tc=pg

I looked online at an artist who goes by the name Gazow. I found this article by simply searching for stream of consciousness within art and the title of this article caught my interest: Abstract paintings via stream of consciousness. 

One part of the article then went on to capture my attention, making the article worth reading: 

How do you start a painting? 

Generally I just do a lot of free-form, stream-of-consciousness stuff. I just kinda put paint down and let it go where it takes it, and build from there. 

What's interesting about your process is that I can tell it's a stream-of-conscious effort, but the line work seems so deliberate – almost like it's completed with the same consideration a graphic designer must use. Everything I do is sort of a construction of visually experiencing the world, just kind of recording it and spitting it back out. It takes shape, just because of how the brain works in associations. You think of an elephant, and then you start to picture an elephant being constructed in your mind. For me, it's more of a subconscious level; I take the step out of thinking about something and it just kind of constructs whatever it wants on its own. 

This concept of "taking the step out of thinking about something" is an interesting one to apply to abstract painting. This idea is definitely evident in the artists work. His series of acrylics proves this:

"Bear Cave"

"Gorilla"

"Voodoo"

When alone, there is an ambiguity to what could be in the paintings but when paired with the titles, the ideas within the works are more profound. The artist works very cleverly with colour and shape to create abstraction with a definite image. 

I did try to recreate this manner, but the artist just perfects it so delightfully that I seemed to be trying too hard to recreate it.