Artists' Directory
Joshua Abarbanel
My work is inspired and informed by nature, by the colors, forms, and structures found in biological, botanical, and geological forms. I believe that the similarities I see in natural forms, colors, and patterns, are manifestations of the great creative power of the universe – what religious people refer to as God. In this way, the pinecone, the nautilus, the ripples of the water and sky, are the fingerprints and signature of the original artist and creator. Acknowledging that the creative power of the universe exists on both the physical and spiritual dimensions, the process of making my works is very meditative, and often feels to me like a form of prayer or worship. I use line, color, and shape to create abstract, multiple-perspective compositions, which can be seen as both aerial and microscopic, and allude to a variety of metaphoric and symbolic meanings. Read on their surface level for the shear visual pleasure of exploration and discovery, the multi-layered imagery creates aqueous vistas of new worlds for the eye to inhabit and explore. On a metaphoric level, the concepts of structure, connections, support, separation, expansion, contraction, growth and decay can be examined in the work as well. Ultimately the work is about the yearning we feel when touched or inspired by beauty, the longing ache that transcendent experiences always leave us with as they inevitably pass, and the personal and the universal rebirth and transformation that occurs each time this is felt. | |
