Arapoff's abstract painting evolved in tandem with her other styles.
Arapoff's first known abstract works (on paper) date from the 1960s and are in clear conversation with her religious works from that time.
Her hard-edged abstractions of the late 1970s and early 1980s explored positive and negative space and often featured careful gradations of color.
Arapoff was deeply inspired by summers spent -- in the 1980s -- in rural New York, and her abstract paintings broke free in paint quality, motion, and color even while preserving an underlying sense of structure.
She painted majestic large canvases, some of which owed an evident debt to Jackson Pollock
But she never was trapped in a single style, and she also employed a more calligraphic form of expressionism.
She experimented with different approaches and media -- for example, combining oil and fluorescent paint and using both brush-painting and drip techniques.
Her 1990s abstracts are memorable for their exuberant movement and colors.
Her style continued to evolve in the 2000s, resulting in luminous paintings that pulse with rhythm.