"Abstraction"
Artist Jen Haefeli, 2023
Acrylic, Watercolor, Metallic Watercolor, Soap & Ink
20" x 20" x 2.25” Museum-Grade Canvas Panel

"Abstraction" has heart-like elements while many things can be found when one looks deeper. I enjoy working in layers. Each time I lay in metallics or ink, the surface changes, and something else pulls through, and the surface changes. This piece has become one of my favorites to explore the multiple mediums I’m working with, though admittedly I wasn’t sure where I was taking it when I began. Pushing through some painful moments with it has been worth it. The punchy, orange-red, which has an air of Picasso-Orange is a beautiful pop for the sea-foam blues and greens. The depth has grown, and the dimension is building. Subtle hues remain, while shadows are building deeper without blackening. Throwing some gold in just a few places has kicked up the richness and balances the brilliance. This piece is an amalgamation where subtlety and brilliance come together to introduce the eye to new depths and forms upon each view. I hope you enjoy taking a gander.

Abstraction has melded and grown, like a Dali clock, it melted on me. When it began it was a more formal shape, and now it is much more interesting. Something that has become a deeper, far more informed version of itself. Layer upon layer, it is like a version of the ocean. The viewer might consider that each hidden gem has been seen, yet by turning the piece and viewing it in a different light, newer aspects will emerge. It has become one of my favorite pieces because it just keeps giving. Blacks are far from and prove that there is no real black in what seems to be black in this piece, merely color-filled darkest tones. Keep searching, and it will keep changing.