What is Existential Abstraction?

Existential Abstraction is the overarching artistic movement in which Cosondra Sjostrom operates. It posits that the most profound exploration of human existence arises not through literal representation, but through the transformation of an individual's inner psychological reality into a visual field that resonates universally.

Rooted in the existentialist tradition, from Kierkegaard's emphasis on subjective truth and Heidegger's notion of Dasein (being-in-the-world) to Sartre's assertion that existence precedes essence, Existential Abstraction rejects both pure formalism and narrative figuration. Instead, it treats the canvas as a site where personal experience encounters the shared human condition. The intimate inner world of a specific individual expands, through chromatic and textural transformation, into an experience that speaks to the forces of identity, memory, desire, uncertainty, connection, and authenticity that shape human existence.

Not everyone is the muse; not everyone witnesses the original conversation or lived journey. Yet the resulting work offers every viewer a portal into something greater. What begins as the story of one individual becomes an encounter with universal questions of meaning, presence, and human connection. Through color, structure, and material depth, the personal expands into the existential.