Mixed Media on Wood | Contemporary Abstract Art by Ritu Raj

“The more precise the instrument, the more determined the artist must be.” – Agnes Martin

“A work of art is a world in itself reflecting senses and emotions of the artist’s world.” – Hans Hofmann

My mixed media on wood practice was born from a deep fascination with the intersection of art, technology, and tactile form. As a contemporary abstract artist, I am drawn to the elegance of precision—the quiet rhythm of repetition, the architectural beauty of geometry, and the meditative control of carved form.

This curiosity led me to CNC machines, my tool of choice for engraving mathematically driven patterns into wood panels. Each carved line and groove becomes a structured landscape, created with machine precision yet infused with organic warmth. There is a quiet poetry in this process: the hum of the tool, the resistance and yield of wood grain, and the emergence of form from formlessness.

Painting these panels becomes an act of intuitive expression. Acrylic paints flood the carved grooves, building layers of contrast, motion, and mood. Vivid color fields play against the natural warmth of wood, creating works that feel both grounded and alive.

To finish, each piece is sealed with a glass-like epoxy resin that enhances color saturation, adds luminous depth, and transforms the surface into a reflective, almost liquid plane. This final touch is an alchemical moment where material, light, and color converge.

These paintings exist where craft meets code, where control yields to spontaneity, and where abstraction becomes both methodical and emotive. They invite viewers to engage with surface and depth, to see the mechanical and the organic as two parts of a living whole.