Michael Abraham

“As an artist I endeavor to understand and accept human nature in all of its complex majesty. Painting allows me to share the processing of experience. I enjoy the storytelling aspect of art. Each painting shares part of a larger journey, starting from a naive and hopeful worldview to one that holds a greater understanding of our vulnerability and lost innocence. My art conveys awareness to the struggle for survival in a competitive world, but is also an expressionistic portrayal of awe and wonder.

Motivation to create an image can come from any number of things, including art, literature, the media, politics, philosophy, religious studies, psychology and real life involvement. Being a non-linear thinker, with a variety of personal circumstances and experiences, influences and mess-ups to draw from really help in the creative process! There are so many things to ponder and wrap one’s head around… Art is a reflection of life: ever changing, growing and dying, serious, funny, and paradoxical.

“The famous French Canadian painter Riopelle said that painting is a disease, and that once you catch it you have it for life. I caught it. I have been living breathing and eating art for many years. Being in the process of making art is very much feeling one’s aliveness, insignificance, bravado, greatness, feebleness. I am a designer, a colourist, and a composer of ideas. I am not bound by realism. I like to give myself the freedom to play and explore as the process permits. I am intrigued by both the narrative and abstract nature of painting. Artists I admire include Breughel, Picasso, Ingres, Fra Angelico, and Stanley Spencer, who are all formal composers in the visual realm. In my attempts at illustrating pure experiential encapsulation, I hope that my work offers a confirming view of life. Fleeting time and marks on a page, my art is my sorrow, my hope, my prayer and my joy.”

Artwork and text generously permitted to be republished on this blog by the artist himself. Please visit his site to see more of his amazing work. Surely artists as inspiring as he must replace the original Group of Seven?