2016 Harvest

2016 Harvest of paintings...

2016 has been a reasonably productive year for me.. exploring new entities and realms, figures and spaces... enabling me to share 20 new canvases with you in a new gallery on my site. Many are for sale on Saatchiart. Both the originals and as print on demand. So please enjoy and feel free to share!

Deep Sea Patience

Deep Sea Patience, 50 x 50 cm acrylic on panel, © Olivier Hijmans 2009

"The risk of movement

Colors protect each other

Until that moment"

There was a time when I used to write a Haiku (or pseudo Haiku) with every new painting. This Painting dates back to 2009, a golden oldie indeed.

Titled 'Deep Sea Patience', this work reveals a scene that is both dynamic and tranquil at the same time. It is like a very specific puzzle that might drastically fall apart when one of its individual elements is removed.

Or, more anecdotally, you can imagine a slightly frightened fish in the upper center of the picture, trying to hide behind a colorful coral and other sea creatures. The art of camouflage and natural harmony at the same time. But what if it moves..?

To me, this painting combines a sense of peaceful harmony and colorful danger into one reality.

This painting is not for sale on Saatchiart, I might offer it as print on demand, though.

Climate of Change

Climate of Change, 30 x 30 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2015

A snapshot of an ever changing landscape, moving from desert to forest, from warm to cold.. Like many of my landscapes, this panorama shows multiple horizons, being less linear than it appears at first glance.. just as the human mind itself and our perceptions..

You can see the swirls of weather shaping the surroundings. The distant sun has witnessed many changing climates come and go, persistently carving and polishing the never finished sculpture called Earth..

I painted this in December 2015, now giving it the long awaited release it deserves...
For sale on Saatchi Art.

Kite at Eagle Peak

Kite at Eagle Peak, 30 x 30 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2015

Mountains always have my attention. Is it their solidity? Their overwhelming appearance? The way they play with light? Their vistas? Probably all of the above.

Kite at Eagle peak is a painting I made in 2015. It is now for sale on Saatchiart.

Eagle Peak is the mountain top where the Buddha is said to have expounded his teaching called the Lotus Sutra. This is regarded his most important teaching, in which he declares all life to be inherently endowed with the highest potential for wisdom, compassion, courage, happiness and fortune.. no ordinary message indeed.

So I used this single fluttering kite as a symbol for this state of absolute spiritual freedom, as it playfully dances around this serene mountain top. The moon is there to witness the show.

The Wing

The Wing, 60 x 60 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2016

Flapping feathered wings, making wind, moving and navigating through a complex World, breathing life into stillness..

Silver light is shining at us from a distance, revealing colors in a clouded realm..

There is a particular depth and dynamism in this painting, that I'm trying more and more to achieve. The warped triangular shapes are a recurring entity in my work. I find them to be elegant and vibrant elements from which to build harmonic structures and movement. The jagged line in the center adds to the gestural contrast as it disappears into the distant shimmer.

For sale at Saatchi Art.

Energy

"Energy" 30 x 30 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2016

 

There are those days when, suddenly, a lightbulb ignites over your head, bathing you and your tired face in the refreshing light of a great new idea. Like, for example, the day I realized I should integrate my music studio with my painting studio, which had been in two separate and slightly impossible places.

It is the pure energy of creativity that lights the bulb of ideas. Like the Buddhist teacher Nichiren Daishonin said: "..a candle can light up a place that has been dark for billions of years."

New ideas are always already there, in a latent state of potentiality, stored non locally in the cosmos. We just need to resonate with them and light the bulb so we can see them... right?

Inversion

"Inversion" 40X40 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans, 2016

In what at first appears to be a raging sandstorm, we may suddenly find a well balanced freeform symmetry. Even stillness. There is a careful yet playful mimicking and inversion of shapes in a shared space of mutual respect.. A mild anarchy perhaps. Again, there is this hint of a double horizon, and a kind of inversion layer above which directions change and color contrasts increase.
The rolling hills in the distance have seen these aerial formations assemble and disperse time and again...

There you go, another freeform analysis of a freeform painting. I enjoy my intuitive workflow.

Departure

"Departure" 30x30 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans, 2015

Time to reflect on a painting I made last year. One of my personal favorites, actually. It may look as sad as it looks playful. There is a clear interaction between light and darkness here... there is a sense of emergence and disappearing, hope and fear, perhaps, or loss and gain... Sometimes in life, the curtain just opens to a new phase, which inevitably entails a drama of welcoming new developments and parting with current situations, tendencies, or relationships. Through our tears, we see the first blurry glimpses of a new reality.

From a deeper perspective, it is this "cycle of birth and death" of life phenomena that reinforces our vitality and refreshes our perspective. The trick is not to be afraid of the shadowy figure standing in the distance when the curtain opens, and to have the courage and seeking spirit to enter a new paradigm.

My personal conviction is that from time to time one does need to fundamentally question one's World view, and therefore also reconsider the anatomy of one's inner World as well. Even the hardest rocks on Earth were completely morphed and moulded by the immense forces of the elements, time and transformation. Likewise the thickest of walls in life can be broken through by the power of determination, courage and wisdom.

Are you prepared to see what's on the other side?

Dragonfly

Dragonfly, 30 x 30 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans 2016

It has been a little quiet in my blogosphere, as I've been away for a bit. A short journey to the beautiful and peaceful island of La Palma (Canary islands) has deepened my resolve and perspective as an artist. At one point, while taking a swim in a pool there, I was accompanied by an elegant deep red dragonfly of a type I had never seen before. It seemed to follow my movements back and forth the pool, examining me as I was examining it.

Anyway, now I'm back in the blogosphere, and I'm very happy to present to you a work called 'The Dragonfly', that I had mysteriously made shortly before that encounter on La Palma. Very curvy and abstract, it combines and elaborates upon various elements in my previous creations. Aesthetically, I'm trying to find the sweet spots in the realms between smooth and jagged lines, gradients and carefully articulated colors, space and congestion, abstract and figurative, movement and stillness.. and so on. It's all there, and again, it leaves enough room for interpretation.

Still, many people immediately seem to identify an dragonfly in this scene. And once you've seen it, that is what it becomes. Very interesting, because aesthetically there are many parallels between this painting and 'Blue Morpho', which I made three years ago.

I particularly like the idea of a dragonfly being depicted in this work, because like in Blue Morpho, the scene seems to integrate the shape and movement/behaviour of the flying creature into a singular entity. You and how you walk are one and the same, aren't they? The curved wings become the swirling flight path and vice versa...

The dragonfly is incidentally one of my favorite animals. Apart from their obvious beauty and color, I find them very interesting because they are of very sturdy and old evolutionary design. They were among the first winged insects that came into being around 300 million years ago. Also they have amazing flight capabilities.. a great source of inspiration for artists and engineers alike.

It will shortly be for sale on Saatchiart.

Blue Morpho

Blue Morpho, 20x20 cm acrylic on panel © Olivier Hijmans, 2013

Some years ago I found myself walking along a hidden coastal forest trail at the far end of the island of Bocas del Toro, Western Panama. The heat was blistering, cicadas' chirping was deafening, huge waves were crashing on the deserted beach. Just when I thought nature couldn't get any more intense, a wonderful shiny blue creature suddenly appeared out of nowhere, dancing through the air, right past my face, to disappear before I could even attempt to follow it. It was a big Blue Morpho! A beautiful butterfly that is featured in many myths and legends in Latin America. Then another one appeared and vanished even more swiftly...

Back home I decided to try to capture the impact of my encounter with these Blue Morphos in painting. Their swift and gracious choreography, their intense blue hues, and their effortless symbiosis with their surroundings. While painting this I realized that sometimes shape and movement truly become one.

I now cherish this small painting at my desk as a personal favorite.

Prints are for sale at Saatchiart.

Reach Out

Reach Out, 60x60 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans, 2016

I do enjoy painting wide landscapes and horizons. In the early days, it was hard to believe or understand that another land might exist beyond the horizon. But we had a strong sense that there would be something there, though we had no idea what those lands would look like and who their inhabitants were. Ships sailing to the edge were destined to fall off of the face of the Earth, many feared.. a now very illogical scenario to us of course, freely flying around the globe and across the continents.

Still, I imagine we cherish the same perspective when gazing at galactic horizons in outer space.. Some of us do have a hunch that ET civilizations might exist, and some believe we have been visited by some of them. Yet many will claim our ships, or theirs, would never be able to break through the light-speed barrier, let alone safely cover any intergalactic distance..

This I find to be a very fascinating paradigm. Are there other Worlds out there? Will we ever be able to reach out to them? And when we do, who and what will we find? Our interaction with an ET civilization would most likely not be very linear. It would probably be mind bending, uncomfortable, exiting, and deeply transformative to both. Their World may somewhat resemble ours, or it might be a completely upside down experience to us. Even the most deserted desert might contain a hidden wealth of life, and the cosmos might turn out to be teeming with life, like a fresh green forest in spring. Maybe one day our Blue Marble will be their Blue Marble and vice versa. Fundamentally and playfully engaging in the struggle to reach out to each other, all connected in the eternally flowing river of existence...

For sale on Saatchiart.

Undefeated

Undefeated, 40x40 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans, 2016

 

This was no easy painting, and I did almost give up halfway on this one. So I'm glad I decided to persist and struggle. We can see a little smiling candle flame courageously trying to burn it's way through several layers of obstacles. Or we can see a couple of fragile wings trying to lift a pile of basalt blocks and a giant teakwood table into the nightfall. From another angle it might be a bunch of thoughts frantically trying to cling together... Either way, this is a scene of friction and possible breakthrough. An homage to the spirit of 'never be defeated'!

With a touch of Cubism..
And for sale on Saatchiart.

The Harp

The Harp, 40x40 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2016

If you look closely, you may discern the contour of a harp, a huge brown wooden celestial harp, suspended in space. Emitting unbounded colors and tones that travel across all borders in all directions. The harp was one of the favorite musical instrument of my father, to whom I owe my interest in music and art, and so much more..

For sale on Saatchiart.

Precambrian

Precambrian, 40x40 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans 2016

Since there are obviously no photographs of prehistoric times (unfortunate as that may be), there is no limit to our imagination as to what our planet may have looked like in long gone eras. To me this painting evokes a sense of the unlimited life potential of Earth in, say, the precambrian era..
A scene so distant in so many ways, and yet so vividly dancing in front of your eyes.. this image reveals many layers, colors, movements, perspectives and atmospheres. Also, it makes one wonder what "happened next".

Soon for sale on Saatchiart.

Desolate

Desolate, acrylic on canvas, 40x40 cm © Olivier Hijmans, 2016

Has this lone black tree lost all its color to the mountains? Is this a scene of hope or despair? Can the sun still warm these rolling hills? What's behind those distant peaks? And what's that black ball doing up there in the clouds? ..Many questions to be answered about this panorama. Again, a conscious choice can be made here, projecting either a barren and cold realm or a gentle tale of early spring onto this canvas. Even the most desolate of places could spring to life under the passionate glare of our willful eyes... For sale on Saatchi Art.

Spaceship Earth

Spaceship Earth, acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans 2015

What do we have here? Floating above the Earth.. some unidentified entity, emerging from or approaching the blue surface? Or lines and structures launched from the moon in all directions? An unseen connection between our home and outer space? Humanity reaching for the stars? The scope of this scene is simply as wide or narrow as the World view one projects onto it.
The idea of Earth as a spaceship is a tantalizing one. In the words of Buckminster Fuller: "I’ve often heard people say: ‘I wonder what it would feel like to be on board a spaceship,’ and the answer is very simple. What does it feel like? That’s all we have ever experienced. We are all astronauts on a little spaceship called Earth." What's more, he even wrote an operating manual for it!
I've painted this in 2015, hoping it will trigger some cosmic perspective in the beholder. What is this little blue home in the vast blackness? What is our responsibility for it? Can we treasure it? Will we able to reach out as one united civilization and contact our cosmic neighbors..?

Threefold World

Threefold World, 70 x 70 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2016

In many of my landscape paintings, like The Climb, it may be hard to figure out just exactly where is the horizon... as may be the case in some areas in life as well, or in how we see the world around us in terms of understanding.

This painting, titled Threefold World, takes that kind of perspective to a new level. Sky becomes movement becomes ground becomes horizon becomes sky. There are basically three landscapes or realms here, and it's up to you to define how they are connected. You can follow the vertical line in the middle, though, and see where it takes you.

The Threefold World also refers to a similarly titled Buddhist concept, which describes the World as we know it as consisting of the three realms of Desire, Form and Formlessness. Very interesting indeed.

Meanwhile, in this painting there appears to be some overarching undulation going on, which may almost lead one to believe that these various layers of mountain ranges and horizons are actually moving, and may even transform into another perspective.

Using this kind of panorama as a mirror for ourselves, one thing it teaches us could be that it is never our exact current circumstances that matter... it is our ability to see their dynamics and to creatively transform them.

Earthrise

Earthrise, 20 x 20 cm acrylic on canvas © Olivier Hijmans 2014

 "We went to the Moon as technicians; we returned as humanitarians"

-Edgar Mitchell

On February 4th this year, Sir Edgar Mitchell passed away. He was the 6th Human being to walk on the moon. Like many astronauts who had the unparalleled privilege to gaze at entire wonder of the "blue marble", Mitchell was awestruck at the sight. More than any other spacefarer, he was able to articulate his profound experience and insight at seeing our distant home suspended in star-filled blackness. He describes in detail how he experienced the fundamental interconnectedness of al things in the universe, including his own body and mind. It was a very personal and very physical as well as spiritual experience. He even said it felt as if the entire cosmos was like one living entity, and that it appeared to be conscious. Back on Earth, this experience triggered his thorough search through scientific and eventually mystic literature to find some sort of 'documentary proof' for his actual experience, and he even went on to found a scientific research center for consciousness studies. A very interesting, sincere and well-informed man, Mitchell was also very outspoken on the 'ET issue', stating that he had sufficient inside information to conclude that "we have been visited".

In any case, seeing the Earth from outer space generally seems to open one's mind to the infinite preciousness of life and nature, the insanity of war, the pointlessness of such concepts as 'borders' and, at the same time, it seems to evoke a sense the great cosmic potential of Human civilization. In the words of Edgar Mitchell: "Thát's a 'wow'..."

I painted 'Earthrise' in 2014, and have now decided to dedicate it to the late Edgar Mitchell, whose integrity, research and vision will always be a great source of inspiration for me.

The Meeting

The Meeting, acrylic on panel, © Olivier Hijmans 2010

That time and that place

Harmonious and awkward

They happen to be

'The Meeting', which I painted in 2010, has always been personal favorite of mine. But why? I think it is precisely because in certain respects it playfully deviates from my 'regular' style, though only slightly so. It is one of those scenes that has what I call a 'slow fade-in of humor', meaning that the longer you examine it, the funnier it becomes. To me it represents a happy bunch, sort of awkwardly posing for the occasion, yet assuming a kind of natural and effortless harmony together. Sometimes there is this beautiful and unexpected rhythm or resonance within a group composed of seemingly random people, showing that indeed they would have been randomly composed, except for this occasion. Or something like that. I guess I am referring to what is explained in Buddhism as the distinction between the 'provisional' and the 'true' nature of a person or a situation. I will stop here, because this painting could make me go on for many pages..

The Climb

The Climb, 30 x 30 cm acrylic on canvas, © Olivier Hijmans 2016

Mountains have always been a source of inspiration for me. I love mountains. Perhaps because where I live, we don't have any. To me, mountains are magic, massive, majestic, magnetic entities. They call out to me: "Climb me!". Whenever I see a mountain or mountainous landscape, I get exited. And I want to scale it. And when you do, I found three things generally happen: You get to enjoy the wonderful vistas and colors of the land, unfolding under your feet step by step. Then, to your great challenge/annoyance you get to find out that there's always yet another peak beyond the one you're looking at. And when you pursue, you'll get this irreplaceable sense of fulfillment. In the end, I feel mountains teach us to challenge ourselves, broaden our horizons and become unshakable...