Elemental Connections

2020

Valerie McGarry

Bowmanville, ON, Canada

3.5 x 24 inches in diameter

marble, smalti, gold smalti, granite, shale

not for sale

I was inspired to make this mosaic after seeing a dance performance by a native Canadian woman which showed the story that we are born from the earth. This idea of our connections to the earth is also seen in the scientific world. All living things on earth are built from the same six elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus and Sulfur. These elements are part of us and the earth. We are all connected.

The center of this mosaic, rising out of the earth, is cell mitosis which represents the growth of the human cell.