Reflections On Paintings
Exploring Inspiration, Process, and the Artists Who Shape My Vision
“I create to shift how we see and feel through abstraction—opening space for reflection, connection, and quiet transformation. Change begins not with certainty, but with listening.” - Ritu Raj | Abstract Artist
Abstractions of Self is a living journal of my painting practice—where each post unravels the hidden layers behind a single work. These reflections explore how abstraction emerges not just from paint and gesture, but from memory, mood, and the invisible threads of influence. Here, I share the intuitive process that unfolds on the canvas, and connect each piece to the broader world of contemporary abstract art—honoring the artists, ideas, and philosophies that inspire and shape my creative journey. This is a space to look beneath the surface, to understand what cannot be explained in the work alone, and to discover how each painting becomes both a question and an answer.
Rooms of the Unfinished
Abstract oil painting by Ritu Raj featuring layered rust and earth tones with emerging color rectangles — black, orange-red, deep crimson, teal, cobalt, and a yellow base strip. Abstract Inquiry Series. 5 × 5 ft. Phoenix, Arizona. 2026.
Fragments of Thought: Constructing Meaning Through Abstraction
A 6×6 ft abstract oil painting exploring layered color, fragmentation, and constructed meaning from the Abstract Inquiry Collection by Ritu Raj.
Submerged Structures: Memory Beneath the Surface
A 6×6 ft blue abstract oil painting exploring depth, memory, and layered structure from the Abstract Inquiry Collection by Ritu Raj.
Bands of Tension: Color, Conflict, and Control
A 6×6 ft abstract acrylic painting exploring bold color bands, layered texture, and sustained tension from the Abstract Inquiry Collection by Ritu Raj.
Mapping the Unseen: Lines of Inquiry in Color and Form
A 5×6 ft oil painting from the Abstract Inquiry Collection exploring structure, movement, and intuitive line — where every mark is a thought in motion.
Chromatic Constellation: A Grid of Gesture and Color
Chromatic Constellation is a 6 × 6 ft multi-panel abstract painting composed of nine 2 × 2 ft canvases exploring gesture, texture, and the relationship between structure and improvisation.
Ferrari Red and Silver
Ferrari Red and Silver is a 6 x 6 ft abstract painting where a glowing Ferrari-red square emerges from a textured metallic field, exploring energy, structure, and modernist influence.
Ferrari Core
Ferrari Core is a 72 x 72 inch abstract painting exploring contained energy through a Ferrari-red square embedded within a textured black field, combining precision, structure, and modernist influence.
Ferrari Divide
Ferrari Divide is a 72 x 60 inch abstract painting exploring speed, precision, and power through the dramatic tension between a bold Ferrari red field and a textured black geometric form.
Ferrari Aperture
Ferrari Aperture is a 6 x 6 ft abstract painting where a luminous Ferrari-yellow field surrounds a central black square, exploring light, structure, and geometric abstraction.
Ferrari Giallo
Ferrari Giallo is a 6 x 5 ft abstract painting inspired by Ferrari’s historic yellow, where a bold black diagonal structure cuts through a luminous field of color, suggesting speed and precision.
Echoes of the Stepwell: Exploring Symmetry and Sacred Geometry
‘Stepwell’ is a quiet echo of saffron and slate, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Balance tips toward awe and ambiguity.
Celebrate Spontaneity with Fluid Renaissance in Pop Art
‘Renaissance’ is cerulean meets bone-dry sienna, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Not an image — but an encounter.
Vibrant Pop Art: Love Story
‘Love Story’ is crimson tension woven into silence, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Its rhythm stirs the unsaid.
iRobot: A Pop Abstraction of Machine and Myth
‘iRobot’ is humming with obsidian and gold, drawn from the Pop Art collection. A canvas holding both stillness and storm.
Golf Course: Playful Critique of Leisure and Power
‘Golf Couse’ is humming with obsidian and gold, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Each layer pulses with breath and restraint.
Swimming Thoughts: The Fish
‘Fish’ is drenched in stormy indigo and sunlit ochre, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Not an image — but an encounter.
Double Donut
‘Double Donut’ is humming with obsidian and gold, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Its rhythm stirs the unsaid.
Digestive System: A Pop Abstraction of Inner Worlds
‘Digestive System’ is molten lines in arctic white, drawn from the Pop Art collection. Balance tips toward awe and ambiguity.
Blue Lily: Pop Elegance with a Subversive Twist
‘Blue Lily’ is a drift of moss and ember, drawn from the Pop Art collection. A canvas holding both stillness and storm.