Through abstraction, many artists were and still are having a conversation—giving new voice to the many ways people see, think, and feel. Abstraction becomes a place. Where rules do not apply. Where all things are possible. Where the unreal is made real. Whitten grounded his abstract work in real people, real memory, real loss. Things that are no longer physically here, but their essence remains for eternity. Memory is always around us—triggered by our senses.