[ DATE ] · 65 × 65 cm (approx. 26 × 26 in) · Born in the Sky · by Stephen Meakin
The constellation of Cygnus has exactly nine principal stars. Stephen looked up, counted them, and came home to paint this.
In Hindu tradition, the swan is hamsa, the carrier of the soul. The word itself is the sound of breathing: ham as you breathe in, sa as you breathe out. Every person alive is saying the swan's name without knowing it.
In Celtic mythology swans moved between worlds. In Greek tradition, they were Apollo's birds, and when the sun god was gone, they sang.
Two swans facing each other make a heart with their necks. Stephen placed nine such pairs inside this mandala and called it a painting of global consciousness.
He meant it.
The mandala of 18 Golden Swans holding 9 hearts between 9 pairs whose feathers touch just so. A painting born in the sky and with the knowledge of the 9 key Stars that light the constellation of Cygnus. This mandala of global consciousness is engineered around an Enneagon or 9 sided polygon so the geometry within forms the Enneagram or nine-pointed star. We are each other. — Stephen Meakin