Insight..Abstract Art

Philosophy/Psychology

For those who have read the philosophy on my art, you will have learned that the colours, the energy, the photo I choose.. all play a part in what I try to create for you to see more than just horse art. Of course, your perception is yours and yours alone.

I start with a realist photograph and then I create from my mind, my unconscious.

You may appreciate that my work is good, but not your style, you may see the spiritual message or, you may just see striking visual. Either way, all art has come from somewhere deep inside the creators collective unconscious. It has to have come from somewhere, even if the creator doesn't even know it.. My collector helped me to realise this, and he has helped me further my understanding of philosophy. And where my beliefs come from.

Art has a story, it has a philosophy, a psychology. It has interpretation and meaning to an individual.

The Abstract Movement- escape of the mind

Abstract art has a tough reputation.. many think that the artist has no talent. Its just paint on a canvas, or squiggles, or whatever.. It doesn't look like anything. Take Reflective.. its one of my most popular pieces, yet its the one that has had the most flack.

It has been described as 'shit', and a 'blue blob' and 'what is it??' I can take this criticism because I have the knowledge that art is subjective and not every one will like my work.

However, the positives far outweigh the negatives.. one viewer wrote, 'Your art has given me escape from my mind.'

This is what I want my work to do! I want it to draw people in, to hold the viewers eye and for their mind to be taken somewhere else. To mesmerise you. Creating is an escape, and when Im working on a piece, my mind is focused on that alone. Sometimes I have an idea set out, other times I just start, and it just happens. This is what Carl Jung would describe as the collective unconscious.

- (Big Sky, Big Dreams, Big Art: Made in the USA with Waldemar Januszczak BBC4).

'the occult philosophy of Theosophy has been brutally redacted from the story of modern art, even in California it is an art historical embarrassment. No one wants to believe that Theosophy changed anything - But it did! Actually Theosophy changed everything, without it, abstract art would never have happened'.

Theosophy provided the argument that the universe has an underlying order, the 'stuff on the surface' is exactly that, 'stuff on the surface'. Below it is a deeper reality and that is what the artist needs to show. This is just as true of native American rock art as it is of Jean-Michael Basquiat and Rothko.

Jackson Pollock- Autumn Rhythm

That's not art, that's just squiggles. Paint splatter! Pfft.. I could do that! Yep, I guess that's what the abstract haters have said when entering a room with this kind of painting.

The title of the painting for me doesn't fit with my perception of this piece. But that's ok, because what Pollock created came from HIS subconscious. I see a fight on horse back, the colours bring about the notion of knights in their armour. It actually takes me back to when I did a tapestry at school around the Egyptian Era too. I also see three horses coming out of light (interestingly most of my work depicts just this, horses coming out of light- I wonder what Jung would say about my unconscious mind?)

Pollock developed a drink problem and went to see a Jungian analyst for 4 years, she told him to get in touch with his unconscious self and that is exactly what he did. His breakthrough piece of art, 'The Mural', started as a stampede of American mustangs, Pollock reversed the process, he started with the horses but ended up with their rhythm.

I happen to love abstract art for the very reason of imagination and interpretation. For me, its a lot more interesting.

Joanne GG Barrett