STATEMENT by the artist Constanze Heynold

Years ago I traveled to the Cathedral in Chartres near Paris and walked the path of its famous indoor labyrinth, that is displayed in the tile work on its floor. As I prayed and meditated i felt with every step an increasing sense of strength and calm grew within me. My inner balance expanded. Inspired and encouraged by this experience I started working on my public space stone-installations on sites that were of importance to me, such as “100 Sentry Stones” in Oberursel/Frankfurt, Germany and “Shalom - A sign for Peace” in Friederichsdorf/Frankfurt, Germany.

Visiting Malibu for the first time during the summer of 1998, I realized instantly that I wanted to make this place my future home and I did so by moving there in 2003. I love Malibu’s easy-going, open lifestyle and its creative, spiritual people, and of course the crashing waves of the ocean and its rugged hills.

The form of the spiral has always fascinated me and has become the central theme of my art.  As a shape, it represents eternity, power, life, movement and creation to me.

My spiral collages are made with natural material: Shells, stones, bark, seeds, feathers etc.

When I visited Tibet, in 1997, I discovered in local monasteries not only the single spiral form but also ornaments in form of double spirals, which were similar in their appearance to the human DNA. As a sculptor I realized that this pattern could be used to build a three dimensional structure. 

So I created a combination: My experience  in Chartres walking and meditating through the labyrinth and the form of the double spiral I found in Tibet. Both melted together became the concept of the Malibu Peace Monument.

Built of 46 naturally shaped basalt columns, the Malibu Peace Monument resembles a temple with an open ceiling exposed to the sky. The monument’s path winds itself in and out of the DNA’s  double spiral, a magnified version of the human blueprint: ”The Path of Life.”