Abby Jones

I am an abstract expressionist oil painter. I live on an acreage in rural Iowa with my husband and son. I am a largely self-taught artist. I began painting with acrylics when I was seven years old. I live on an acreage in rural Iowa with my son and husband. I have a studio overlooking the woods. I am a Taoist and a philosopher. I am into transcendental meditation, painting, reading, and living. I studied briefly under Hugh Lifson, Prof. Emeritus at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. Jackson Pollock and Steve Joy are two of my favorite artists. Their works inspire me because they are raw and energetic.

Artist Statement

As an abstract expressionist painter, I am fascinated with the basic scientific principle that energy is neither created nor destroyed. Energy changes form from potential energy to kinetic energy and back. I explore the threshold of change; when potential energy becomes kinetic energy. That energy exists in the creative process of art making as well as life. That tension that makes us hold our breath in anticipation and the release into eventual movement is the potential and kinetic energy we encounter in everyday life. My works strive to capture these forms of energy that exist in all of us. I also employ transcendental meditation as a major part of my process. If the potential energy of my idea can move someone to feel an emotion then that is the kinetic energy of life derived from art. If a work can convey that sense of energy to the observer then the piece has done its job.

Abstract Primitive Expressionism

As the elemental dimension of symbolic culture progresses, so does, by equal steps, alienation from the natural. Symbols are essential for the development and maintenance of social order. From symbols come language... from language comes number...from number comes time and order and systematic control. That is the reason why I stay away from symbols. I paint from a transcendental view that is devoid of time and cultural significance and paint as a part of nature as opposed to separate from it. In my work, everyone, regardless of race/​sex/​religion can find a respite from our everyday modern/​industrialized/​technologically advanced society.