Abstract Art As Therapy
Abstract art is not just a mixture of colourful meaningless
patterns and arbitrary shapes.
There is, I believe, a definate therapeutic value to be found in
most of the enigmatic marks made by the very different styles
available today. What appears to be the most important decision
to make is a very careful consideration of the specific audience
in conjunction with the choosing of the appropriate artwork.
This is not something to be taken lightly or quickly. This can
cover anybody within the wide spectrum of individual audiences:
a busy boardroom environment or a single office or room where
quick thinking, fast reactions, and serious decision making is
required; or a worker who returns from a hard days work simply
wanting to be visually massaged by an easily observed enigma; or
even the space inwhich the desperate and mostly misunderstood
person who is gradually loosing their tentative hold on the
sense of reality. There is a tremendous variety of possibilities.
Here are some suggested associations from one artists point of
view:
Colour plays an obvious healing and therapeutic role to be found
in a carefully selected crafted piece, and so colour-field work,
which is growing in popularity, first conceived by artists like
Mark Rothko and Ellsworth Kelly with their vast areas of empty
colour space, might add a general feeling of peace and quiet to
an otherwise noisy and hectic environment. With there being very
few variations within such a large image a gentle sense of
immersion into abstract stillness can slow down any fretful or
irratic thinking, and even assist with the adrenal challenge of
a creative.
Indefinate shapes or patterns by the likes of Jackson Pollock,
Peter Lanyon, and Howard Hodgkin (again, similar works inspired
by these very different abstract styles can be seen in many
exhibitions, shops and galleries), show a very positive
association, and may perhaps persuade a mind filled with
illogical thoughts to pause, simply take in the apparent
spontenaiety, and then take a different direction. Hodgkin style
works in particular can be seen as puzzle like canvases inwhich
the observer has no real point of reference so is free to
"start" anywhere upon the picture. And because there are very
few defined areas sometimes the observer inevitably finds
themself either regarding the piece with little emotion, and
therefore can freely make a comment - positive or not.
Let us not deny, however, the fact that many an image that has
the potential to provoke a negative response can also be of
great value to the observer who might actually benefit from
seeing such a challenging picture that bears such a bad
association. Better there on the wall than here inside the head.
In this case the classic associations of red for blood and
danger, black for death and sin, brown for decay and illness,
along with dramatic lines and movements found in a painting are
equally valuable stimulii if revealed within the appropriate
environment. This comes back to my point made at the beginning -
when choosing a picture, very careful consideration must be
taken in order to find that one work of art which speaks
directly to the very deepest parts of the observer.