Michael Hines’ abstract paintings reside within a lineage of abstraction shaped by the chromatic brilliance of Alma Thomas, the geometric rigor of William T. Williams, the architectural clarity of Mondrian, and the enveloping expanses of Rothko. His practice honors these traditions while extending them forward, carving out a distinct vocabulary where contours and margins operate as central motifs. These edges are not endpoints but thresholds—fluid boundaries that suggest motion, tension, and possibility. Rooted in personal history and the shared narratives of community and sport, his work translates rhythm, perseverance, and collective energy into layered compositions of bold color and shifting form. Influenced by his background in motion design, each painting operates like a score—structured yet open, measured yet alive—offering viewers both the precision of design and the freedom of interpretation. In Hines’ abstraction, margins become meeting points—where energy converges, where identity is mapped, and where the viewer is invited to step inside a dialogue between order and improvisation, structure and release. His work insists that abstraction is not a retreat from life but a reimagining of it, a place where stories are held in form and released in color.