In the late 1940s Kushner began to visit the Pasadena Art Museum housing the extensive Galka Scheyer Collection of Northern European modernist works of the Blue Four: Lyonel Feininger, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Alexei Jawlensky. Dorothy was drawn most strongly to the cubist inspired geometric abstractions of Feininger and soon began to experiment more fully with modernism in her own work.

In her “Prismatic Series” she began each work with a representational drawing, then introduced black, white and gray stippled bands of paint to extend and abstract the forms within her compositions.  The chroma was cool and silvery, often with primary accents. Many of these paintings were landscapes and trees, particularly a Chinese Elm tree and an Acacia tree on the property.  Chickens and ducks from the chicken ranch her family ran became subject matter as well as boats, children, fish — she “prismaticized” everything she could think of.  During this period she created works with a stark, unapologetic modernity.