Eva Hesse's description of her approach to art making is an apt summary of the abstract project in general. To reject the comfortable accessibility of representation has required a high degree of daring.

Artists who employ this revolutionary approach are like tightrope walkers who eschew safety nets.

But their risk taking has one paramount reward: complete freedom from conventional concerns and constraints, which can lead to unfettered expressiveness and individual exaltation. Yet however spontaneous their works may appear, abstract artists employ highly calculated methods. Like jazz musicians imaginatively improvising within a chord structure, abstract artists must make disciplined use of materials to communicate with the viewer. Hesse's words ring true, then, as a kind of anthem of abstraction.