Makena Abstract Siren Study
Makena Abstract Siren is a body of work that explores the siren figure through progressive degrees of abstraction. In this piece, I deliberately step away from representation to focus on pictorial decisions that shape how presence is perceived rather than described.
This work belongs to the abstract continuity of the series, where the siren is no longer defined by anatomy or narrative, but by visual balance, density, and restraint. You can explore the full series here:
https://leclerc-art.com/siren-digital-art-series/
Working Through Abstraction
The objective behind Makena was precise: to suggest abundance without excess. Rather than relying on symbolic elements, I worked through straightforward pictorial techniques — layering, softened edges, controlled diffusion, and reduced contrast. These decisions allow the image to remain visually rich while avoiding illustrative detail.
Each layer was introduced gradually, then partially blurred or reduced, until the composition reached a state where forms are sensed rather than clearly identified. Abstraction is used here as a working method, not as decoration — a way to control how much of the figure is allowed to appear.
Origin and Meaning of the Name Makena
The name Makena has East African origins and is often associated with the idea of abundance or fullness. This meaning directly informed the approach to the work — not abundance as accumulation, but as contained density. The image was developed to convey a sense of visual richness held in balance, where fullness is felt through restraint rather than excess.
Technique and Visual Outcome
Makena was developed as a digital painting, using a process similar to traditional pictorial construction. The image was built through successive passes, with constant adjustments to texture, luminosity, and tonal balance. Contrast was intentionally limited, and sharpness applied selectively, in order to maintain cohesion across the surface.
The result is an abstract siren that holds together through balance rather than detail. The image does not aim for immediate readability, but for sustained presence — a visual field where weight, warmth, and atmosphere remain stable over time. In this Makena abstract siren, abstraction is used as a practical tool to control density, balance, and visual weight.
Position Within the Siren Series
Within the Siren Series, Makena marks a shift toward a more concentrated form of abstraction. The siren is no longer an image to be recognized, but a visual condition to be experienced. This approach allows the series to expand while maintaining coherence between figurative and abstract works.
Makena is also presented on Singulart, alongside other works from the series:
https://www.singulart.com
Recreating an Academic Image
With Makena — Study in Academic Light, I set out to recreate the visual discipline of an academic study, not as an exercise in nostalgia, but as a way to test my abstract practice against a historically codified form of beauty.
The figure draws inspiration from the pictorial language developed by 19th-century Orientalist painters, particularly in their approach to light, texture, and the idealized presentation of the female body. In that tradition, beauty was carefully constructed through controlled illumination, stable composition, and a refined treatment of surfaces rather than spontaneous expression.
Here, the focus was on capturing the quiet strength and elegance of an Ethiopian woman while working within the constraints of academic painting. The posture is stable, the expression restrained, and the light deliberately measured. Nothing is exaggerated. Everything is held.
Recreating an academic image requires a specific kind of attention. Light must describe form without dramatizing it. Texture must suggest material presence without calling attention to technique. Balance, calm, and visual coherence are essential to the image’s credibility.
This study was not conceived as a portrait, nor as a historical reconstruction. It functions as a visual and technical test: how far abstraction can be condensed into a figure without losing coherence. The colour palette, atmosphere, and compositional structure all originate from an existing abstract work. The figure emerges afterward, as a disciplined response to that abstract foundation.
In this sense, Makena — Study in Academic Light does not contradict my abstract practice. It marks a moment where abstraction is slowed down, measured against the figure, and refined — before returning to abstraction, informed by the encounter.