The great blossoming

Pieter Dirk Torensma (1944) is a unique figure in the contemporary art scene. Undisturbed he creates an oeuvre in which amazement and longing are the guiding principle. His deep solidarity with nature is expressed in all of his paintings, and also his awareness of the light as the primary origin of all that exists. Since the first moon landing in 1969 Torensma breaks a lance for life and its inherent special macro- and micro-cosmic processes, of which we are hardly aware in daily life. At the same time he represents a spiritual quest and a current ecological vision in always new meditative images that appeal for reflection.

Torensma uses natural pigments which he applies on a surface of quartz crystals. By painting in thin layers the light penetrates through these and is reflected by the quartz, which gives a special effect. Since 1992 he works on his so-called ‘Icons for Geometer’, a series of paintings in which the geometric patterns are shown, that lie at the bottom of nature. Sometimes these are easily to be recognized, as in the spirals of marguerites or sunflowers, but also the more hidden patterns are made visible. The book ‘Echoes of Light’ (only in Dutch) gives an overview of his work in about 100 pictures, a biographical sketch and two essays. It is enriched with quotes of poets, thinkers and scientists who have inspired the artist.

‘The mathematic rules of the cosmos are visible for man in the form of beauty.’ – John Michell

The painting ‘The great blossoming’ is part of the so-called ‘Horizons-series’.