"Meditation on Earth" 2022

Meditation on Earth (2022) is a one-of-a-kind wall work by New Zealand artist John Allen — a piece of extraordinary scale, material, and contemplative depth. At 700 × 700 mm and approximately 30 kg, it is a substantial presence on any wall.

At the heart of the piece is a slab of limestone from Turkey that does something remarkable: it looks exactly like a black and white photograph of the Earth from space. Vast expanses of landscape are visible in its surface — rivers, valleys, mountains, plains, the slow geography of a world seen from above. The stone carries within it the record of millions of years of geological time, compressed into a surface that reads, at a glance, like an image of the whole planet. To look at it is to feel the scale of the Earth — and your own smallness within it — with alarming yet quiet clarity i.e. with a smile.

Placed within the composition in accordance with the golden ratio — that ancient proportion found throughout nature and art — a tiny white river stone from the South Island of New Zealand provides a focal point. It is a starting place and a stopping place: a small, bright mark from which the eye departs on its journey across the limestone landscape, and to which it returns. It anchors the vastness. It gives the viewer somewhere to stand.

The kauri frame is built in the manner of a Japanese Zen garden wall — with an overhanging roof and a surround that evokes the viewing platform from which a traditional garden is contemplated. The mat board is cut around the stone in a way that deepens this reference, framing the limestone as a garden is framed — as something to be entered slowly, with full attention.

Meditation on Earth is an original artwork of rare geological beauty and philosophical scale — a piece that invites the viewer to contemplate the astonishing fact of the Earth itself.

Specifications:

• Title: Meditation on Earth (2022)
• Artist: John Allen
• Materials: Turkish limestone, South Island river stone, NZ kauri frame, hardwood, paint, oil, wax
• Inspiration: Japanese Zen garden tradition; golden ratio
• Dimensions: 700 × 700 mm
• Weight: Approx. 30 kg
• Display: Wall-hung (requires secure fixing)
• Care: Indoor display recommended