This  piece became such an entity in it's own right.  Nearly ten years from original idea to completion a lot of  life and learning went on in the meanwhile.  I started the piece three times and was either not happy with the way it was progressing or it was damaged in transit while moving house.  When it was finally began in earnest the piece, not me dictated what was relevant or necessary.

The original concept was an upside down (to some) earth, I have always disliked the down under terminology for my home land, to my way of thinking in the bigger universal picture it is all a matter of perspective.

The piece consists of three zones

The Base, The Earth, The Triad Tree

The building blocks of life are represented here as a crystallized formation.  The Earth is supported by a masculine hand that morphs from the bedrock this brings balance of the sexes and signifies that we are all connected to a life force and the same beginnings.  The hand that supports the earth is a symbol for the creator myth that exists with in all people.    

I have placed the earth with a down under attitude, Antarctica is right side up.  In the bigger universe there is no up or down. How  the earth appears is a matter of the direction from which  it is viewed. 

The continents are represented by the at risk Fauna that are native to the area.   Deliberately not to scale to signify that all life is important and not relative to size, an acknowledgment that man co-exists upon this planet.  The planet would exist without our presence, we should be guardians rather than plunderers. 

The globe then supports, The Triad Tree.

The Triad

The Triad is a representation of the stages of life  a recurring part of many ancient belief  systems.       

- Beginning, Innocence, State of Unknowing  -

A Maiden holds an ankh, the ankh being a representation of  both sexes a state of  no gender a symbol of  life, she also holds a rose bud to signify the fact that she is not yet mature.  (I chose a rose bud not only for its common association with innocence and blossoming  youth, but because a rose, like life can be truly beautiful, a delight to the senses, but with thorns that can prick even the careful. The blindfold she wears acknowledges the fool of the tarot deck,  looking forward to the future with no preconceptions, not blind but naive.  The animals at her feet represent innocence and a connection to hidden secrets.

This figure was completed very early in construction and didn't change from original conception.

The Mother

 - Survival, Nurture, Grail  -

Here began my first halt to proceedings, I fooled around with her patting the wolf,  holding bow & arrow, nothing seemed to look right and just when I was about to trash the lot and give up,  I picked up a random book while looking in a store and it fell open to a chalice.  I couldn't wait to get home and the whole thing just fell into place, the ibex symbolizes fertility and the wolf protection.

The Crone

- Knowledge, Justice, Wisdom -

This phase was the hardest for me and underwent the most changes from original idea.  In the beginning she was holding a set of scales and the bird was and eagle.  In the finished piece she is holding a sword which is an older symbol for justice than the scales. The snake was placed around it to help with the dreaded sculpture undercut, but it turns out that it was also relevant as a symbol of knowledge.   The bird was on and off so many times that I was beginning to think that another animal was meant to go there.  Then for my Birthday a friend sent me a book on bestiary in calligraphy, the powers that be opened the page for me at the Egyptian Vulture and again it just fell into place.  When I started the triad I didn't pay any attention to where each of the women was situated on the globe, but I was really happy that the crone ended up over my homeland the oldest on earth.

The Tree takes its nourishment from the earth, for me it represents ancestors, history and all life from its humble cellular division to majestic maturity,  the sculptured tree is not a true rendering of a specific species, but a symbol of all the earths marvellous flora.  Its trunk  grows the triad.

Many names and their variations had been considered for this piece I called it the sculpture, my husband called it mother earth.  Neither  seemed to fit.  Then one day I was catching a plane and realized that my reading material was in my checked luggage so I had to buy something to amuse.  I couldn't find anything that appealed and ended up purchasing a book only because it was recommended on the cover by one of my favourite authors, As I started to read a  name jumped of the page and has stuck "Black Madonna".

In summation the piece has been part of my own journey of discovery I have learnt a lot about different cultures and belief systems and how we can understand a lot about ancient cultures by the legacy there artists have left behind.   I have come to realize that there isn't a lot of difference between the myths, just different interpretations of the same stories and beginnings.  Whether artists leave a deliberate message, or self expression reflects the beliefs of the day will remain a mystery to me for now.