As an abstract painter I am aware of looking forwards and backwards simultaneously. Sometimes other art has so much resonance with me that I have to work in that formal language for a while in order to absorb it and get something of my own out of it. A form has meaning when it corresponds with a true visual experience. The ever-expanding language of art provides a rich heritage of visual experiences as well as our personal perceptions. Sometimes it is just as valid to take part in a visual dialogue with art that already exists.
Originality becomes less important.
Perhaps this can be perceived as formal exercise, but if a form has relevance to me, I feel compelled to explore it. When it happens, it is immediately recognizable. We want to invent something new through the process of working. Some of the most interesting new forms are arrived at through synthesis. The synthesis of Cubism and Surrealism led to the biomorphic abstraction of Gorky and deKooning.