Blog
Women of Abstract Art
March 01, 2024
Featured above from left to right:
Suns, Seda Saar, Mixed Media, 2021, 2021.26.3
Lick, Daisy Mitchell, Resin and pigment on canvas, 2001, 2010.43.2.
Fugue I, Cathy Pilling Marashi, acrylic on paper, 2010, 2012.51.1.
Feel Again, Megan Stone, Acrylic on paper with embossing,
2014, 2014.23.1.
Big Science, Susanne Doremus, Oil on canvas, 1982, 2007.071.1.
Born at the beginning of the 20th century, abstract art is marked by its freedom of color, shape, and lack of conventional composition. The abstract art movement quickly divided into subcategories that categorized artists based on the emphasis within their imagery, from Abstract Expressionism to Lyrical Abstraction or Geometric Abstraction. By the 1940s, abstract art was widely accepted, but the predominant galleries featuring abstract artists were still missing one thing- female abstract artists.
Jackson Pollock, Willem do Kooning, Mark Rothko- all names that became synonymous with abstract art. Their art exemplifies abstraction and non-representational art, where the portrayal of things from the visible world plays little or no part. The art world was already dominated by men, but to be a female abstract artist in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s was an even more difficult endeavor. Yet there were several female artists, both from the Americas and internationally who embraced and even championed abstraction. They created an abstract art language of their own. They lectured and taught modern art, organized exhibitions, and built spaces that supported one another. Unfortunately, few of these artists will ever be featured in an art textbook or become a household name as their male counterparts.
The GVSU Art Gallery seeks to uplift all artists in our collection. Each year we celebrate Women’s History Month by selecting an art movement and highlighting female artists in our collection. The artists listed below are only a handful of female artists in the GVSU art collection who exemplify abstraction, each in their own way.
Seda Saar
California-based artist and interior designer Seda Saar combines her background as an interior designer, production designer, and fine art artist to create several immersive environments that include her paintings, photography, and sculpture. Saar’s artwork draws inspiration from light, specifically how light defines how we perceive ourselves and objects in space that are part of our everyday lives.
Explore more artwork by Seda Saar.
Daisy Mitchell
Daisy Mitchell creates paintings that beg to be touched to be experienced. Exploring seduction through abstract forms, Mitchell plays with ideas of intimate touch through her use of lustrous and smooth resin poured onto a canvas. Her choices in color and techniques, such as the areas where paint splatters and breaks up, play even more with the senses.
Explore more artwork by Daisy Mitchell.
Cathy Pilling Marashi
Local Grand Rapids artist Cathy Pilling Marashi works within a visual language that spans science, mathematics, and geometry. Marashi approaches the paint and surface of a canvas as physical truths. What you see is what you get, even if the resulting painting might suggest different things to different viewers. No single specific interpretation is needed, other than the fact that the truth of the canvas and the truth of the artists’ materials remains vital and constant.
Explore more works by Cathy Pilling Marashi.
Megan Stone
Megan Stone earned her BFA in painting at GVSU. Her work explores the relationship between irregular and structural forms with a playful use of color and texture. To achieve this, she uses a wide range of tools like scrapers, stencils, and brushes. Each mark made has a purpose and helps to tell the story of each image.
Explore more artwork by Megan Stone.
Susanne Doremus
Susanne Doremus is a part-time professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she teaches graduate-level painting and drawing courses. Her work is rooted in abstraction and reflects a foundation in drawing, representing the courses she has taught. Her works use curving lines and repetition to evoke her feelings about life, current events, and various locations.
Explore more artwork by Susanne Doremus.
Find other female artists exploring abstraction in the GVSU Collection.
p.s. Interested in learning more about some of the female artists creating abstract imagery in the 1940s and 1950s? Check out the list below!
Behjat Sadr
Louise Nevelson
Joan Mitchell
Helen Frankenthaler
Elaine de Kooning
Lee Krasner
Agnes Martin