Art Edit
Spring 2026

Have you ever encountered a work of abstract art and felt... confusion? Even seasoned museum-goers and those of us working in the field are given pause when we confront an image that feels unknowable.     As it turns out, this moment, when your current understanding of the world fails to explain a new experience, is normal and not a gap in your knowledge, but an invitation to expand how you see. American sociologist Jack Mezirow (1923-2014) calls these “disorienting dilemmas” and they can lead to major breakthroughs in our personal worldviews.

 

Rather than walking away (or turning the page in this case), I invite you to deepen your understanding and transform your view of abstract art by using the works here as a laboratory. Instead of asking yourself, “What is this?” try, “If I stop looking for a ‘correct’ meaning in this painting, what is the first thing my imagination wants to invent?” Or, “If the brushstrokes or colors were heartbeats, what would their pulse be?” If you really want a challenge, “What ‘rule’ about art am I following that makes this work feel difficult, and what happens if I break that rule right now?”

 

While these three exercises may not transform your entire worldview, they may help you look at and engage with abstract art in a different way. Think of it as an abstract-art hack, if you will.