"My concentration on the oval permits constant shifts in
imagery and composition. There are layers in these paintings that hint at worlds we do not see. They suggest "lifting
the veil" to reveal dimensions we cannot know. I want to
provoke a feeling of mystery for all who take the time to
look at the work and experience the forms. My current work is a concentration on form and color. I layer several colors and either allow the grain of the wood to be part of the compostion or cover the grain in a new texture to contrast with the underlying grain or conceal it completely"

Schomburg Gallery:
The work of Lillian Abel embodies a strange and compelling stasis where form is the subject. The simple line becomes its own language, the language of equanimity and proportion.

Abel's paintings suggest a controlled grace and formidable comprehension of color and composition. The works exist in the landscape of gesture and suggestiveness. Abel's obsession with the oval is that it is a unique and oddly inviolable shape. It becomes its own force in these paintings. Its placement on the canvas grips the picture plane and each work resolves into another variation on the theme. The experiment and exploration is unlimited.

The Oval in the vertical stance, in ancient symbology, represents feminine power. When shown horizontally, the oval represents the eye of wisdom. Abel expands on this iconology and empowers the oval as a singular shape, endowing it with an almost archetypal capacity for change and contemplation. If there is a consistency in Abel's work it is the resolution of her images into a tranquil and unified space.
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