"Ñuke Mapu – Mother Earth"

This painting is one of a trilogy depicting the three stages of womanhood, Copihue, Ñuke Mapu, and La Machi, mirrored in the new, full, and waning moon.

Ňuke Mapu translates as Mother Earth in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people of Southern Chile.

She is holding her newborn and releasing milk from her breast, symbolizing earth perpetual nurturance. The mountains, volcanoes, lake and cathedral forest are that of the region which the Mapuche have inhabited for some 13,000 years (that we know of). The tree to the right is that of the Pehuen, providing the staple pine-nuts the Mapuche live on.