If You Ever Change Your Mind, oil on canvas 2023

(Private Collection)
People often make a distinction between "Realistic" art and "Abstract" art. Arguably, every work of art is an abstraction. The artist extracts characteristics from their subject and transforms them into something else. Oftentimes, the difference between Realistic (Objective) art and Abstract (Subjective) art has to do with the amount of information (often refered to as "detail") the artist conveys. If the artist's primary concern is the conveyance of information (e.g. an illustration for a medical procedural or a portrait commission), they must collect as many facts as neccessary from their subject and transform those facts into visual form, leaving little room for interpretation on the part of the viewer. On the other hand, the artist may be less concerned with delivering facts and may, therefore, be more free to use their imagination, culling what they may from the subject and asking the viewer, in turn, to use their imagination, as well.