This was commissioned by Gary Greinke, who was Assistant to the President of CUNE in 1973. He gave it as a gift to a member of Concordia's staff, Lynda Parde, to celebrate the birth of her daughter.
According to Parde, this is the symbolism of Marxhausen's piece:
The two black arcs represent the earth. The top arc is the old soil and the bottom glossy arc represents new soil that is fertile. Between the two arcs there are two forms with the one on the left representing the man and the one on the right representing the woman. The woman is with child and will soon give birth. The parallel explanation refers to seeds planted under top soil in fertile ground that will develop and will break through the outer surface of the soil into new plants when conditions are right.
This blog is the only place you'll be able to find some of these artworks.
- Duncan