Artwork on the official website of Patrick Bergsma dates as far back as 2007. The Dutch artist, a magical creator of surreal bonsai was inspired by the Chinese art of bonsai – there is something so terrifyingly hopeful about nature conquering all, time and again, even in miniature forms. Another art form that he draws his inspiration from is the Japanese Bonkei, the creation of a miniature form of landscape. These two coupled together, Bergsma had heeded his calling. Starting off with floating bonsai, he transitioned to depicting landscapes in his sculptures. But what we want to focus on today are the powerful broken-pots bonsai sculptures that the sculptor has mastered recently.
Patrick’s parents owned an antique shop, and his grandfather was an avid collector of German porcelain. Thus began his fascination with all that’s vintage. The painstaking craftsmanship was understood, history admired. While the artist always did work with porcelain, his present work is the climax of his creativity.
Just as the bonsai trees burst, ‘break through ‘ the antique pots, so has the creativity of Patrick Bergsma broken a new ground. In his project, the sculptor works with broken ceramic antiques dating back to as far as the 17th century. The bonsai trees growing through these broken pieces are handmade – Bergsma has mastered the art of growing miniature trees.
This the art of today and the pieces of yesterday mingle to form something new, something whole again. If not completely whole, then broken by the force of nature, from whom we have come and to whom we must return.
The miniature trees wrap the broken pots, embrace them and grow through them, all becoming a single entity. The craftsmanship of those who thrived before us is not lost, it finds a new meaning, a new existence.
Oh, how temporary everything is! Our ephemeral lives will someday be consumed by the new, by the fresh. The old, broken porcelain pieces, once belonging to only those who could afford them, now become a part of the bonsai tree. Nonetheless, the old and the new are in harmony and come together to make peace.
Liked these Bonsai Sculptures By Patrick Bergsma? You’ll also like Ognyan Stafanov’s miniature village.
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