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The Landscape of Our Perceptions

"The Landscape of Our Perceptions" - oil on linen canvas, 26 x 32 x .75.  Ready to hang. Available here, at Artfinder and at Bluethumb.

“... art has an effect on our general cognitive state that goes beyond how much we enjoy it, to change the way we perceive events and make decisions.” - Daphna Shohamy

​There is a new study out which suggests that viewing abstract art can cause measurable mental changes in the viewer.  ​Wait - what?  A little abstract art immersion to nudge your perceptions and influence your decision making - view two paintings and call me in the morning, says the art doctor.

I know how much an abstract painting can influence my emotions.  Some cause me to feel extreme tension and unsettledness, others instigate an expansive sense of awe.  
What I did not know was that we tend to place psychological distance between ourselves and abstract art, associating it with things in the future or things far away.  I was unaware that art viewers tend to take in the entirety of an abstract painting in a search for meaning, while focusing on the details in more representational works.

I'd be curious to know how you experience abstract art.  Leave a comment below - one (or more) lucky commenters will be entered in this month's Reader Giveaway, and get a little something free in the mail from me.  Woot!
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About the art:  beginning with a primed linen canvas and thinned oil paint, marking the darks with loose strokes with a rubber wedge and dragging the paint.  Building layers working dark into light, blending with a soft brush, paper towels and fingers.  Adding more dark washes of glaze and dragging them to create movement.  Ending with lights and hot spots using a palette knife and a small rubber wedge.  This piece is inspired by both our adventures in the wilderness and our wanderings in reading books, combining the misty mystery of mountains hiked with the unpredictable tempest that is the ocean of seafaring adventures.
16 Comments
Leslie Fuquinay Miller - 3 years ago
I put myself in the picture. In yours, I’m near a waterfall and a river in the early evening in winter. But because it’s abstract, and art, I feel perfectly safe.

I don’t feel nostalgia from the abstract, like I do with representational art. I also don’t tend to become entangled in the scene of something representational. I’m a viewer instead of part of the scene.
lola - 3 years ago
Leslie!!! Your comment intrigues me....being able to place yourself in an abstract, but without. nostalgia. But being nostalgic, but not entangled, in the scene of something representational. I will be pondering this for day.

Wonder Mike and Lilly say THANKS HUGELY for entering the August Reader Giveaway! xo
Dotty Seiter gmail - 3 years ago
Until sometime around 2015, I didn't have much of a relationship with abstract art. For the most part, I didn't become engaged with it and, I think, if anyone had asked me what my thoughts were about abstract art, I would most likely have said I didn't care for it, nor did I have any interest in painting abstractly myself.

hahaha!

Now, it's what I paint!

Now, I feel a strong connection to the painter, curious about who that painter is. I look for feelings and surprises; notice the Rorschachian responses in myself. I am pulled in by the visual language on the canvas. I often see abstract act for the glory of its color or monochromatism or neutrality of color. I love the way an abstract painting can bring a room to life as expression and color and line and shape and texture and depth and emotion rather than as representational image.

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The Landscape of Our Perceptions is strong and compelling. It reminds me of tadasana/mountain pose—it stretches me from my center, simultaneously lifting up and rooting me, and aligning all my chakras.

phew! brava, lola!
lola - 3 years ago
Dotty!!! Whoa! What a fabulous comment.."the Rorschachian responses in myself" has me nodding and resonating. THAT! Yes! And holy macaroons...thank you for the ultra fabulous feedback on this piece. I am grinning!

Wonder Mike and Lilly also say THANK YOU for entering the August Reader Giveaway! xo
Liz Walker - 3 years ago
Great post, Lola! Although I do paint quite a bit of (wonky) representational paintings, I feel a real emotional connection to abstract art (the piece you posted is lovely). I think I like the mystery of abstract paintings: the variety of elements in it, and the liberating feeling that one doesn't have to paint THINGS, just shapes and relationships between those shapes (and colors, and lines,etc). I know it takes a certain way of looking/seeing to "get" abstract art, and not everyone appreciates it, but it's one of my favorite types of art.
lola - 3 years ago
Liz!!! Yes, yes and YES! Your work always draws me in with the nod to representation, then keeps me wandering all around the painting with the abstractness - kind of the perfect visual adventure!

Wonder Mike and Lilly say THANKS A MILLION for entering the August Reader Giveaway!
Carl S - 3 years ago
Interesting stuff Lola.

I think I know why we actually look at entire abstracts and look to portions of detail in representational art. Both kinds start the same way. Your brain can classify a piece of representational art. It says oh I know what this is and investigates further. Abstract kind of fools your brain it pauses while it says what is this.
lola - 3 years ago
Carl!!! Your description makes great sense to me - fooling the brain and making it pause! I love thinking my brain is saying "oooooooh what is THIS?" when looking at something abstract. :)

Wonder Mike and Lilly say THANKS MUCHLY for entering the August Reader Giveaway!
Kyle Ingrid Johnson - 3 years ago
Sometimes the colors chase each other across the canvas, appearing at dawn and disappearing at dusk. At other times, the colors - or sometimes the shapes - just haunt the viewer throughout the day. Some abstract paintings hang on a wall for the owner or the viewer to turn to - mostly unconsciously - for relaxation. Eventually, any abstract art in a collection becomes part of the owner's family. The pieces can be trusted, depended upon, and there when needed.
lola - 3 years ago
Kyle, Kyle, KYLE! OMG! You have me jumping UP AND DOWN! Yes! I love the idea of an abstract as family - trusted, dependable and THERE!

Wonder Mike and Lilly say YAHOO! and thank you for entering the August Reader Giveaway!
Jan mccready - 3 years ago
Abstract art draws you in. First the whole picture. What is the artist saying here. Is it expansive? Peaceful? Playful? Then we search the details. Is this piece humorous or serene? We need to have a very thoughtful approach to an abstract painting and allow time for it to reveal itself. Is it irony or meant to amuse us? Does it try to capture the essence of the time of day for example. Does it explode out of the canvas or pull you in? Abstraction needs our energy and attention to reveal itself.
lola - 3 years ago
Jan!!!!!! You have me nodding enthusiastically! YES! Abstract pieces need time to reveal themselves - and our energy and attention!

Wonder Mike and Lilly (in charge of shipping and sometimes promotions) say THANKS ENORMOUSLY for entering the August Reader Giveaway!
Debra Hillard - 3 years ago
As an abstract artist myself, my experience might be a little different. I feel the painting rather than think about it. It is a way for me to access realities beyond my conscious mind and open myself to a more expansive view. Most often there are no words to adequately speak about what I sense, though I do attempt it for others. For the most part I find them to diminish my experience or limit it at best.
Lola - 3 years ago
Debra!!!! Your abstractions are ethereal - beyond words indeed! I feel them deep in my bones. I think your art demands a physical immersion from the viewer - it is extraordinary!

Wonder Mike and Lilly say THANKS EXTRA SUPER BUNCHES for entering the August Reader Giveaway! xo
Carol Edan - 3 years ago
Love to see you going abstract! What a great article! Thanks! I love the way I can read what I want in abstract art. A great connection with the painting and painter, a dialog. Started abstract and haven't
looked back!
At first I thought your painting was a diptych! Love your delicate lines! More Please!
lola - 3 years ago
Carol!!! Thank you for your encouragement and comment! Yay! Your abstraction is so deliciously organic and mesmerizing. I can dive deeply and never come up!

I will always go back to abstraction, I think. It grounds me.

Wonder Mike and Lilly say THANKS MUCHLY for entering the August Reader Giveaway! xo

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Lola Jovan

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