into the Mystery

Current Studio Work

Photography can often be about moving in the world and finding images among all that is there that particularly speak to you. This body of work draws on more than 20 years of such travel and honours a special constellation of these ‘conversations’, which I think of as ‘the mystery’.

In Chinese traditional art ‘the mystery’ was the name given to the space between heaven and earth. However, I knew the phrase long before I read of that.  I use it a little more broadly to describe particularly resonant experiences where something timeless, and often transitory, is communicated. A kind of sacredness that’s rooted in the natural world. Perhaps it is similar to what the Japanese call Yugen.

Path (edition of three)

A special kind of light and shade often goes along with these experiences and can invite a sense of urgency – this paradoxically timeless moment will be gone before you know it, so act now!  Other times the feeling of resonant beauty invites a kind of slowed down meditative state and the accompanying image is found ‘out there’ but from inside.

My ceramic work is in part a response to the images. Sometimes a creative idea emerges from an image and invites a ceramic form. I am privileged to be able to work in this studio space where I can print, make, arrange and play over the course of the year.

Vessel

I hope that some of my ceramics and associated work can find a place in daily practices of calm reflection. Placing objects in a bowl, drinking tea, making a simple breakfast, arranging flowers. A simple comfort. A daily journey into the mystery.

 Robert van Koesveld

Dance (edition of three)