Joan Mitchell, "The Sink," 1956. Collection of David and Jane Davis. © The Estate of Joan Mitchell

I chose to do Mitchell's art piece because it caught my attention and made me wonder what the artist wanted me to see or feel. The piece is obviously one of many abstract expressionist art. You can not really tell what is going on in the picture until you read it's side note. The title "The Sink" gave me an idea where the artist was headed in her work. I started to notice toward the center that the paint started to get thicker and was converging like how liquids do when they are going down a drain.


At first I could not tell what was going on in the picture since it is hard to easily define an abstract art piece. All I saw at first was the many brush strokes created to make the piece. I imagined that the artist was frustrated about something and vented her anger on the canvas. I had to read the side note to better understand the picture because a person can fish out endless meanings in an abstract piece. The clue that gave me a better understanding was the title "The Sink" that is when I imagined how can this painting be related to something I see in the kitchen and bathroom. I could not see an actual sink, but I can see a spiraling motion of the direction of the brush strokes. The strokes appear to be merging to the center. I felt that the artist could be describing her feelings or even the direction art is taking.