I've come to understand abstraction as a reduction of something complex into something symbolic that captures the bare minimum / absolute essence of the reduced

I've come to understand abstraction as a reduction of something complex into something symbolic that captures the bare minimum / absolute essence of the reduced thing, and not necessarily in an obvious way. In programming, it could be the boundaries of a concept independent of implementation. In visual art, it could be a few lines on canvas that evoke the spirit of the thing referenced. In jazz, it could be strange notes on the peripheries and askew of rhythm that by being what is not, circumscribe what is.