In his 28 photographs presented in the exhibition 'Above Below' at the Circle Gallery in Amsterdam (Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 May 2023), Rogier Houwen observes the interplay between the cosmic and the earthly. The "Above" refers to the sky, the cosmic and the spiritual. The "Below" refers to our planet, the earthly and the physical. An old saying, "As above, so below", suggests that these two dimensions - the cosmic and the earthly - are reflections of each other, working together as two layers of the same existence. The "Above Below" exhibition brings these two realities together in a visual poem about the human experience of connection with cosmic nature.

The cycle of the moon is reflected in the tides of the ocean, and the cycle of the sun in the seasons. At night, the sunlit moon illuminates the first spring blossoms, while a candle reveals a glowing spot before the light fades. Stars are born and die, and a solar eclipse can be watched over a cup of hot chocolate. These observations all relate to the feeling we have when we are out in nature looking at the stars; a feeling of being big and small, spiritual and physical, mystical and mundane, all at the same time, united.