Thoughts on Compassion
Background information
Pim Velthuizen (1966) lives and works in The Hague. He creates digital artworks, which he has printed and finished in museum quality using TruLife acrylic glass. The prints and finishing are handled by Wilcovak in Hoogeveen.
Pim draws, uses his own photographs and designs on the computer to create images that can't be created with other media. Only with the computer can he create dead straight lines and subtle colour gradients and meticulously scrape an image, sometimes working on it for many months.
Artist's statement:
With his art, he hopes to inspire viewers to think about compassion. That is why he has given his works an overarching title: Thoughts on Compassion.
Our world is burdened by turmoil, injustice, disharmony, exploitation and a disturbed relationship with our planet, which is often abused for our own benefit. Artists can provide a counterbalance. His work is inspired by ancient and timeless myths that encourage us to seek wisdom and compassion. For a healthier global mental climate.
Pim Velthuizen on the artistic design process:
The images emerge slowly. First in my mind. Then I gradually build each image in the computer, in many layers. I draw digitally with a graphics tablet and incorporate my own photographs. All these elements are merged into the work. In the end, the distinction between what I’ve drawn and the photos becomes unrecognizable — it all blends together.
This design process takes me several weeks, until everything falls into place. From the first vague idea to the final, definitive artwork can sometimes take several months. The computer allows me to work with great precision and detail.
Pim Velthuizen on his Sources of Inspiration:
My works are based on myths of all times, found all over the world. In them you find the same ideas, but always in different images and wordings.
In 1988 I came into contact with Theosophy (Theosophical Society Point Loma in The Hague), a vision of life that has inspired several artists, from Mondriaan and Berlage to Kandinsky and Hilma af Klint.
In my works I look for dynamism and inner stillness that shows our connectedness - the oneness in everything. Described in Hinduism as Tat (= That), the unmentionable.
Ideas from Buddhism, Hinduism, Norse mythology, Theosophy, ancient Greece and from astronomy inspire me and I often combine them into one work of art.
One idea that fascinates me is that everything can be seen as life or consciousness. Nothing is without consciousness - from the smallest atom to a galaxy, and larger and smaller than that, and in realms both visible and invisible to us. Truly everything can be thought of as consciousness. One can imagine that every mathematical point in space is a source of consciousness.
Every consciousness can also be seen as a stream of life that, from a center, source or focal point, descends into matter. That flow can be symbolically represented as a vertical line - for example, as the ray of a sun. Therefore, in all my works I depict vertical lines running through everything. This symbolizes a fabric of living consciousness.
For more information on Theosophy, please visit the following web site:
Compassion and Altruism:
Every life or consciousness is boundless and grows and evolves to infinity. We too can become Buddhas, Christs, Krishnas or Odins - or whatever you want to call it. We too can rise above ourselves, through compassion and altruism. Compassion inspires me. Like the image from the Mahabharata of the hero who does not enter heaven because his dog is not welcome.
Because we are all connected to each other, only together can we grow spiritually and move forward. This is only possible with compassion for one another, according to Buddhism “a fact of nature.”
Recurrent forms:
I use various recurring symbols and forms, such as transparent spheres, lines, trees, branches, rivers, organic structures, layering, and more. Through them, I try to express the ideas that inspire me.
I do not see my works as realities; they are artistic representations of the ideas that move me. Everyone is free to interpret my work in their own way.