"I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them." - Jackson Pollock

When you look at a Pollock painting, you see expression, not a sketch or representation of an illustrated idea. You see expression that may seem abstract, but then again, our feelings are abstract, right? Do you ever feel a color, or feel a smell? As in Pollack's paintings, emotions become splatters of paint, mixed with earth and broken glass.

Born in 1912 in Wyoming, Pollock was influenced by Native American culture in his early life, particularly in the way some Native American groups created sand art and paintings. Sand painting techniques involve the pouring of different colored sands and minerals onto a surface, creating a painting.

Pollock became one of the first contemporary artists to move away from the very "western" use of the easel and paint brush, and painted with the movement of his body: With each pour and drop of paint a movement was reflected He also preferred to work on the ground, using sticks, hardened paint brushes and even syringes to paint.

"A painting has a life of its own. I try to let it live." - Jackson Pollock