Before commencing on creating my abstract landscapes for the book, I decided to take some time to think about what exactly has drawn me to using this methodology of creating images that at first are nondescript and perhaps unclear in their intentions but with time and some unconventional reading and opening up preconceived notions on what an image should be and do, other meanings or expressions begin to make themselves known to the viewer.
It occurred to me that this falls rather closely in line with the ethos and methods used during the mid to late period of the artist Mark Rothko, most famous for his large, abstract expressionist colour field works that aimed to create experiences for the viewer, with the goal not convey one specific theme but elude to greater, more complex aspects or experiences. This would be different for each viewer with some not finding anything from some work and others having profound emotional experiences with the work, with no set expectation for the work the openness to individual interpretation is something that I find especially interesting about his work.
This approach to the relationship between artist and viewer is particularly influential on my own work, especially with this project, I intentionally wanted these images to be somewhat confrontational and unforgiving, whilst also not expecting a fixed or definite interpretation of the work, whilst I myself have made the images with more specific themes and intentions at heart, I much prefer the viewer having to decipher and come away with their own interpretation and sitting with that, never knowing if that was the artist's intention. This is to mirror the neurodiverse perspective on social interaction, never fully knowing if their analysis and interpretation of the highly confusing, often alienating social languages of neurotypical convention, was accurate according to the expected rules.
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