Elements – Void

Oil on panel – 50 x 35 cm – 2025

In the beginning was the void, pure nothing, emptiness. From this emerged the four elements. She was known by many names though various cultures but was always female, the begetter of all. Sometimes referred to as Chaos, She is not strictly an element but the space from which all emerges. She is the divine cosmic womb, not just a beginning point but also an ending point, the point of contemplation of the sages.

From India to Sumer to Greece, she was known as the Cosmic Egg, Nammu, Eurynome.

Geometrically The Void is traditionally represented as the circle, or in three dimensions, the sphere; never ending, eternal and devoid of all content. From this fecund zero – this singularity – emerged the known universe.

In this painting she is depicted with a tear, representing the sadness associated with becoming, as we must all leave the bliss of eternity to enter the world of change and duality. Behind her is the sea, the primal ocean from which we emerge and to which we return, echoing the salt water of both the womb and our tears.

Read more on the back ground of this series on my blog: The Elements