Atom n.º 8

Research into the atom was one of the most significant scientific developments before the outbreak of World War I. Hilma reflects these, after finishing her Paintings for the Temple, by juxtaposing schematic images on the etheric and physical planes in a bold exploration of the invisible dimensions of reality, with notes explaining how to transition from one state to the other.

And so we read: “When it expands on the etheric plane, the physical part of the atom begins to glow.” We start from that point with this flower opening in an explosion of color to which we add volume, with its golden center acting as a nucleus and the red petals gravitating subtly around it. And in this way, one does not know if they are seeing an atom turned into a flower, or a flower into an atom. Matter and energy. Energy and matter. Two ways of telling the same story.

You will find it in the Atom Series, no. 8, 1917.