Women of Abstract

When you think of abstract art, chances are you conjure images of artworks by Picasso, Mondrian, Rothko. The list of male artists synonymous with abstract art goes on and on. 

The reality is that women have been and continue to play a vitally important and influential role in abstract art - they simply have been over looked for far too long. 

Women see things differently to men. This statement is not gender bias, nor a truism, it's neuroscience. Female brains are wired to see the world around them, perceiving and recognising and responding to objects, faces, gestures, and even colours, differently to males. It's this difference that has enabled us humans to survive over the centuries, and it's this difference that makes the abstract art created by women artists so very different to that of male artists. 

Women of abstract are often concerned with capturing a sense of atmosphere; an atmosphere swirling with thoughts and emotions which are necessarily grounded in personal experiences parsed through a distinctly female lens. Of course, it is never possible for an artist to separate their own lived experience from their art. But, because of their gender, for women painting in an abstract style, the way they view and interpret the world around them, and then they way they distill all of this into their artworks possesses a feminine quality.

An excellent example of a woman artist capturing the atmospheric qualities of place and space through the feminine lens is Mary Spacapan. Within each of Spacapans abstracted landscapes we not only see but feel a sense of tenderness and kaitiaki (care and guardianship) for the land itself. Each tiny daub of paint is carefully and deliberately applied to the canvas, building up layer by layer, colour by colour, to create a landscape that is an abstraction of an actual place as well as a meditation on Spacapan's place, or rather role, within the context of the land on which she stands. The small scale of each painting only further enhances the intimacy, and empathy the artist holds for the natural environment. She is not trying to overpower us with her skill by giving us a large, grand vista. Rather, she invites us in, pulling our eye close to the work. Through this relationship and exchange, Spacapan literally and metaphorically draws us closer to land and to her, so that we may see both from a new perspective.

While Mary Spacapans colour pallet could be defined as feminine, owing to her preference for muted pastels and soft earth tones, the feminine quality does not necessarily mean soft marks or shades of pink and pastel - none of those gender stereo types need be applied here thank you. Rothko explored the full spectrum of colour and was never considered to be 'too feminine' (at least not as far as this writer is aware). Rather, the feminine quality could be that of empathy for and nurture of their subject or idea. It could also be bold, outward expressions of the particular challenges they've faced as the subordinate sex in society, where they take the craft of 'women's work', reclaiming it and reasserting its value. And, it could also be employing tools or materials or colours typically seen as being 'masculine', such as saws, drills, concrete, rock, MDF board, black, and claiming it as theirs to use for their own ends - without any help from 'the boys'.

New Zealand artist Bobbie Gray (currently based in Amsterdam) has never been one to shy away from DIY or 'difficult' subjects. As the founder of Comet Project Space in Auckland, Gray is the creative driver behind some of the most engaging and popular temporary public art projects with a sustainability focus in New Zealand. Her large scale public art installation, such as the incredible 'Kōwhai Grove' in Tauranga, was at once a beautiful grove of vibrant yellow flowers, at the same time as a forceful comment on plastic waste and our environment impact our consumption. Each individual Kōwhai, of which there were hundreds, was hand cut, spray painted and assembled over many months by Gray herself - at one point, she'd been holding the spray gun for so many hours she seriously strained her shoulder.

This level of commitment, and a refusal to be intimidated by seemingly impossible tasks is as much a part of the artist's DNA as are her chromosomes. To meet her, you're instantly struck by her tenacity, her thoughtful and introspective eye, and her ability to transform the every day into a thing of beauty. The featured work above 'Gallery 68' is just one of her 'Gallery' series of works. Dreamed up in response to the time she spent literally on the floor while recovering from a serious injury and subsequent surgery, each Gallery has been routed and meticulously spray painted with custom blended colours by Gray herself. Outsourcing to a workshop, or roping in 'one of the blokes' never crossed her mind.

The result is a series of works that come to life on the wall. The lyrical, enticing quality of each work is partly down to the artists brilliant colour combinations, sourced from historic French colour charts and blended in her studio to match. But, it's the three dimensional depth of the wiggling and squiggling Gallery lines - abstractions of the tracks borer leave in floor boards - that really stimulate the mind and eye. Never has is been more accurate to say that artists draw on their experiences to inform their art, turning their pain into things of beauty for the rest of us to not only appreciate, but relate to. There is something in the fact that cleaning the floor of a home, which if you live in an older villa or bungalow anywhere in the world is likely scared with the gallery marks of borer, is traditionally a woman's work. Again, we encounter a woman using art as way to reclaim and reimagine the every day in an entirely new way, through what can only be a female gaze.

Auckland based artist Raewyn Whaley has been quietly painting for over 30 years. In her enigmatic abstract paintings, Whaley explores the experience of inherent duality of being a woman. Semi androgynous figures hover in the background, disguised or obscured by washes of gestural abstract marks. The use of semi translucent acrylic and soft colours, struck through with a single darker lines deliberately placed by the artist, further enhances the atmosphere of psychological ambiguity and invisibility. What is at play here is the tension between the masculine/feminine that so many minorities experience. In painting these works, Whaley brings our attention to this experience, offering us a painted expression of what is likely familiar territory for many.

Whaleys work is also informed by the philosophies and texts of 14th and 15th century female mystics. Through her understanding and appreciation of these ancient texts, as well as drawing inspiration from abstract expressionist artists such as Hilma af Klint, Raewyn builds upon centuries of uniquely female interpretations and understandings of the world. In her more recent works, such as 'Distill' 2022, seen below, Whaley is "describe[ing] the need for an examination of disparate and unexpected ideas to bring them into cohesion". Through her intuitive gestures and her signature subtle tonal shades at the lighter end of the red and blue spectrum, the artist creates an atmosphere which is at once calm and still while being in a state of churning and flow. Balancing these two opposing states of being (calm/churn; stillness/flow) is a feat many artists strive to do; the attempt to find balance and equanimity is what navigating life is all about. In Whaley's work, we're offered a uniquely feminine approach, or perhaps interpretation, of how we might find the ever elusive balance. The varying weights of black marks painted on top of the dusky hued background are suggestive of the fact that there is no one right way, no clear path. We can, and sometimes must, follow each twist and turn, trusting that when the sun sets, and the dust settles, turning the sky those awe inspiring shades of pink, lilac, grey, we are content in who we are.

While each of these female abstract artists style and approach to painting and art making couldn't be more different, what is evident is that abstraction, in the hands of women artists, becomes a powerful expression of a unique female experience. Each in their own way paints from the inside out, and in so doing, they claim what is rightfully theirs: a voice and a place in the world where they're seen on their own terms.