Zodiac

Zodiac: An Exploration into the Language of Form, Gesture, and Colour

From ancient times, people knew of the zodiac’s intimate involvement in the creation of physical life. They understood that the twelve realms of fixed-star constellations emanate specific forces brought to life in movements of the planets. These spiritual energies create and form all living beings on Earth—including human beings. This traditional awareness has been reenlivened and given new meaning today through Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy. He specifically indicated twelve gestures and colors that depict the forces of the twelve zodiacal regions.

In this richly illustrated collation of original artistic research—featuring exciting new work on the zodiac through sculpture, graphics, and painting—twenty-seven essays and numerous color images explore and illumine these new insights. Guided by editor Gertraud Goodwin, the contributing artists offer a rich tableau of authentic, individual approaches to understanding the zodiac, shedding light on the vast realm of creative forces surrounding us while acknowledging their primary source.

“From the many relationships to other qualities, like the consonants, virtues, areas of the human body, colors, eurythmy gestures, elements (earth, water, air, fire), musical keys, and many more, in which the zodiacal forces express themselves as if through different instruments, a harmony begins to emerge, which informs me of an ever rounder picture of one particular force of the Zodiac.” —Gertraud Goodwin

About the Author

Gertraud Goodwin was born in Germany in 1951. In her first career, she worked as an surgery nurse at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh. Her sculpture training at the Alanus-Kunsthochschule near Bonn (1976–1979) was followed by training in sculpture therapy. In 1982, she moved to England, where she taught at the Tobias School of Art in East Grinstead and at Emerson College, Forest Row, as well as working with graphics. In 1987 she started to teach sculpture and graphics in her own studio. Gertraud Goodwin has exhibited in galleries in London, Brighton, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.