When a painter takes up brushes and applies paint to canvas or any other surface they are already in the domain of abstraction. Figurative painting is an abstraction of the visible world, using elements that we perceive from our surroundings. Purely abstract painting may not have clear references to the physical world, but the references are intrinsecly there, coupled with symbolic thought.

You can see a page I have on "Artisho, Galerie d'art contemporain"

or "Google"

and some more links to other diverse pages