Friday, December 24, 2010

Lifting the Shroud

Title: "From unknown depths"
(click on image to view larger)
  
Looking at this image as I'm composing this post, I'm struck by how well it reads as an abstract composition, with three distinct bands of varying tones and shapes. Viewed larger, the representational interpretation will undoubtedly be more dominant, but it will definitely be strengthened by those abstract elements. It makes me realize that there isn't an absolute division between abstract and representation, but a sliding gradient from pure abstract to pure representation, with very effective mixes of the two existing in the large space between the poles.

1 comment:

J. M. Golding said...

I was thinking the same thing recently when I was looking at a friend's photos of Native American celebrations. I noticed that the ones I liked best tended to be the ones with a stronger abstract component.