Why am I voting for so many abstract paintings?!

For as long as I can remember, I have loved realism more than abstraction. I can appreciate the concepts of abstract art, but I have always preferred to see some sort of narrative. At one point, while taking a ceramics class I realized that I even liked pottery decorated with figures over pottery decorated with designs. However, once I took a class with a professor who clearly favored abstraction, so I decided that I would do my best to try to create abstract work. The painting I did at that time was done in ink (see fig. 1). The viewer might only see black and white streaks, but to me, it is a scene in the woods on a humid night where people, represented only as shadows, are congregating. Streaks of light break through the branches above revealing one dominant figure among the crowd orchestrating something that is about to occur. I don’t know what an objective viewer would see in this painting, but that is what is at the heart of it. I like abstraction because it can tell a story, but one that isn’t explicitly stated.

As I compare the match-ups in the Saatchi Showdown, I try to vote for the piece that is most skillfully painted or drawn; ones that have an emotional impact. I also like the photographs that seem to have a sense of mystery to them. As a viewer, I don’t want to see only pretty designs in abstract art, but ironically, I don’t like figurative paintings unless they are beautifully painted. Does anyone experience any similar realizations when voting in the Saatchi Showdown?

fig. 1

The more I look at this, I wonder if it can actually be considered abstract, or if it is just a pen and ink sketch.