The Southern Cross

Joan Relke

Photo by John Fields

Central Australian Aborigines saw the footprint of an eagle in the Southern Cross. Thousands of years ago these four stars were an object of reverence in the Near East. In the Biblical days they were just visible at the horizon, and were last seen from the latitude of Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Christ. Still today, Christians see their sacred symbol in the shape of this constellation. Now it revolves in the Southern Sky, a circumpolar constellation, barely dipping below the horizon. Visible even on a moon-lit night, these stars form a provocative pattern. Perhaps it is a cosmic kite, fluttering across the night sky, its tail, the pointer stars, trailing behind.

As a sculptor, using the solid materials of the earth, I created The Spirit of the Southern Cross to bring this constellation closer to us. She reaches up from her earthly home to grasp the rising constellation as it moves along its trajectory through the night sky. As it passes between her hands, she grasps it, momentarily connecting earth and sky - the world of mortals and the heavenly realm. She holds it like a cat's cradle, taut between her hands, before releasing it back to heaven.

Photo by John Fields

The ideal time to see the Southern Cross held in her hands is midnight on the autumnal equinox. Other times are listed below.

The sculptor is Joan Relke, a local Uralla artist, and her works can be seen on her website.

The Sculpture

Sitting on top of a 4 metre high boulder, the Spirit of the Southern Cross reaches up to catch the cross between her hands as it passes overhead.

The figure is 3 metres from the tip of her long hair to the tip of her fingers and is made of cast aluminium, which can be seen at night and also by day from the passing highway.

Photo by Carl Merten