marlene mountain
painting series 16
'she is one and she is two: signs from the ancient'
exhibition statement and titles
1986

 

she is one and she is two: signs from the ancient

The series She Is One And she Is Two: Signs From The Ancient was inspired by designs
expressed on the sculpture and pottery created in Old Europe 5500 to 8500 years
ago. Not only are the physical/spiritual symbols language in themselves - one we are
today in need of speaking - but there is evidence of a script within this period, thus
predating the earliest known writing of the Sumerians. Perhaps in time we will
come to understand the true sacredness of beings and nature as was once
inherent/incarnate in matrilinear times. Maytreearchy . . . there was no beginning she has always been . . . .
Marlene Mountain 6/87

Special thanks to Dr Marija Gimbutas (professor, curator, archeologist at UCLA)
for her wonderful phrase 'she is one and she is two' which appears in her book, The
Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, from which these paintings are based.

painting series sixteen
she is one and she is two: signs from the ancient
august-september1986 (16 paintings 25" across/octagons, 15 small triangular paintings)

1) she is one and she is two
double snakes, 127, 112
2) secret of life
vulva, womb, 164, 163
3) presence
vulva, womb, 77, 146
4) sacred rotation of the seasons
4-fold, 90, 89
5) divine phases of the moon
4-fold, 90, 89
6) formation of the world
eggs, 164, 101
7) divinely sown field
grain, field, 206, 205
8) mystical three
three, 116, 117, 147
9) great goddess
goddess emblem, 175, 177
10) new life after death
butterfly, axe, 187, 186
11) immortality
bull horns, 92, 91
12) first, all was water
water, 92, 102
13) infinite life energy
meander, snake, 86, 102, 132
14) offering
script, 85, 85
15) divine moisture from the skies
rain, 115, 116
16) she herself
goddess emblem, 53

'the little sisters'
triangles
17) streaming rain
rain, 118, 118
18) spiritual journal of the year
4-fold, 50, 89
19) her divine wings
butterfly, axe, 187, 187
20) four corners of the cosmos
4-fold, 90, 89
21) the sacredness of sown fields
grain, field, 103, 101
22) beginning of life
germ (in egg) 103, 101
23) universal egg
germ, egg 167, 95|
24) cosmic egg
egg, 103, 103
25) universal womb
vulva, womb, 167, 159
26) continuum of life
4-fold, 174, 91
27) utterances
script, 125, 163
28) magical source of life
egg, 163, 163
29) her divine image
goddess emblem, 139
30) vitality
snakes, 131, 94
31) magical breasts of rain
rain, 129, 116
32) her sacred sign
script, 117, 117
33) divine torrents of rain
rain, 115, 94
33) energy of cosmic waters
meander (partial), 130, 124, 135

notes:
based on 'The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe'
Marija Gimbutas
below each title is the theme, design and reference page; title from text

showings:
Aesthetic Access Valle Crucis North Carolina 1987

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