Mark Pirie

poet - writer - editor - publisher

In Symbolism, spiritual and occult,

Swedish painter Hilma af Klint paints

with colour: oranges, pinks, blues, mauves,

concentrating on circles and symbols.

A favourite is her Swan series

recognising the philosopher’s stone.

When two beaks touch there is

a union, the meeting and coming

together of opposites. Black and

white swans mirror the sexual

union of two souls, a merging

of minds, the hearts of the living.

Seeing this painting reminds me

once again of love, so painters

can touch on how two lives run

together, oil on canvas, daubs of feeling.

*Hilma af Klint, The SUW Series, Group IX, The Swan, No. 1, 1914-1915, oil on canvas, 1500 x 1500mm.