The Power of a Brush Stroke

The artist abstract artist Yayoi Kusama said

“Bring on Picasso, bring on Matisse, bring on anybody! I would stand up to them all with a single polka dot.“

This bold statement, that a single mark could not only be art, but stand up to works of artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri, Matisse, was intriguing.

If you break down a painting, it is nothing more than a series of brush strokes. Could a single brush stroke have meaning or convey a concept? Could brush strokes have value of their own, even if they were not just part of a realistic representation of the painter’s subject?

These questions inspired my series of “Dash” paintings. These are abstract/minimalist paintings that feature the brush stroke, and often ask one or two of those strokes to convey a message or concept such as independence, love, or loss.

On a painting with 100’s of individual freehand brush strokes, each similar to the other at a distance, but unique upon closer inspection, a single missing mark conveys the idea of loss.