Earth and Light by Bianca ter Riet

About "Earth and Light"

by Bianca ter Riet

About the artwork

In "Earth and Light", softness and texture meet. The canvas breathes tranquillity, composed of vertical planes that shift in nuance between old rose, peachy pink, white, brown, terra, olive green and beige. Each strip seems like a breath, a rhythm of colour and stillness, made with an alternation of brushstrokes and palette knife movements. The paint is alive - sometimes thinly smeared, sometimes thick and tangible like clay.

The vertical direction gives the work a sense of growth, of rooting and upward movement. As if the earth itself is trying to become light. The whites are used sparingly but deliberately: thin, horizontal lines applied with the palette knife subtly break the rhythm - like reminders of horizon, breath, balance.

The colours harmonise naturally, without struggle or contrast. They seem to carry rather than crowd each other. The old rose brings softness, the terra and brown add weight and warmth, the olive green adds depth, and the white opens up space. Together, they create a sense of calm completeness, as if nothing needs to be added or taken away.

There is a quiet tension between matter and light in the whole. The brushstrokes hold the tangibility of earth, while the palette knife draws traces of clarity - like light gliding across a weathered wall. It is not a landscape, and yet it evokes an atmosphere of landscape: not seen, but felt.

"Earth and Light" is thus an ode to balance. To the beauty of simplicity, to the quiet conversation between colour and texture. The work invites the viewer not to search for meaning, but to experience - the warmth, the calm, the breath of paint. Modern Abstract. Autumn. Raw.