Abstract:
In autumn 2015 I travelled to New York for the first time, for one reason only. Located in the heart of the Bowery, the New Museum was hosting the first New-York-museum exhibition of contemporary German artist, Albert Oehlen (b. 1954), collected together under the title, Home and Garden. This alone seemed enough of a reason to travel halfway around the world, and during my stay I visited the exhibition not once, but three times. On each trip I stood before Born to Be Late and More Fire and Ice, both monumental paintings from the early 2000s. Each stretching an impressive three metres squared, they exploded with violent colour and gesture – the printed mark against the painted. There was quiet vibration beyond the inexhaustible bursting forth I struggled to name. A hum that, as a viewer, made me feel so small, yet simultaneously arose an awareness of my own body in space. On the third visit, I sat on the floor of the gallery for over an hour in a quiet meditation. Before such scale and ecstasy of gesture it felt like taking communion with painting. This was my first truly spiritual encounter with an artwork, in that it struck a deep resonance within my body. I became a witness to some invisible force field, fighting its way out of the canvas. This experience four years ago in New York sparked a desire to explore how painting, both in its practice and reception, might enable a spiritual experience. Throughout history, various religions have employed different methods to connect people to such a universal essence, whether this be through worship, meditation or fasting, to name a few. While each practice is different, each also appears to seek the same experience of a supreme being: an energetic vibration that connects or enables the infinite number of physical forms to unfold throughout our planet and beyond. While many art genres may present ideas or an experience pertaining to the spiritual, I am particularly interested in how abstract painting has enabled transcendence for the artist and/or viewer at various points in history. Following this, I am curious how this has affected women artists working in spiritual abstraction and how the reception of their work is affected.