She favours fast drying industrial paint as well as pigments to expand her sketches form initial, carefully patterned components. Her paintings are often viewed as theoretical, and non-pictorial, and she has indeed decided to distance herself from the German Expressionist school of art: she has consciously decided to avoid conventional forms of characterization.
"I start with nothing really, I make no sketches before I start the painting, I work directly onto the canvas."
Tomma Abts
The reality of the world perceptible with the senses, is seldom featured in her paintings, and she doesn't borrow from the specifics of individual physical experience to relate her vision the observer. Instead, she conjures multi-layered configurations, which create intermingling outlines of shadow and light.This culminates in remarkable, naturally produced moving-pictures effects on the canvas, obtained through persistent multiple attempts. Lavish colours eventually appear to be ordinary objects, which complement one another in a seamless resolution. A meticulous worker who leaves nothing to chance and works at her own pace, Abts has recently started producing a series of prints, which will further synthesise her already existing collection of inventive works.
