This piece is a tribute to the extraordinary fauna that have existed in Earth’s rich past. It is a “biological mandala” -- each ring is designated to a period (with the exception of two eras and a double-period ring) defined by the geologic time scale. 13 rings are drawn, beginning with the Archean eon and ending with the Quaternary period. Within each ring are the fauna that existed during the designated time period -- predominantly animals after the first two rings. The circle in the center contains a coconut octopus, a gopher tortoise, and an American bison, which each have radically different lifestyles and physiologies. In this way, they are microcosms of the grand biodiversity of Earth.

As you move out from the center, you will see the progression of dominant groups throughout time. We begin with simple, single-celled organisms and sea sponges. Then, with the Cambrian explosion (third ring), many modern animal phyla arrive-- mollusks, arthropods, and chordates being the most notable. Soon after, vertebrate diversity explodes, and we see the rise and fall of the era of amphibians (Paleozoic, 541-252 mya: rings 3 - 7), the era of reptiles (Mesozoic, 252-66 mya: rings 8-10), and now the era of mammals (Cenozoic, 66-0 mya: rings 11 - 13).

Often, we reduce Earth’s history to the Mesozoic era -- specifically the dinosaurs within that era -- but there is much more than that. Unfortunately, in making this, some reduction was necessary. One could fill 10 such mandalas with ungulates alone, and they arrived only in the Paleogene period (around 66 million years ago). Even so, this piece was aimed to at least offer a glimpse of the history and capabilities of life.

As dazzling as the biodiversity that exists is, the most important thing to understand is their unity. The car-sized relative of the armadillo Glyptodon, the ancient armored trilobite, and the peculiarly shaped cat-like Pristerognathus are all beings of this planet that lived their lives just as we ultimately live ours. They saw through their eyes and heard through their ears, they maneuvered through their environment, interacted with other species of the time, and lived on in an effort to survive. One awareness flows through us all. Once you remove constraints of time and form, all life blends together as one. This piece takes shape as a mandala precisely for this reason, as mandalas traditionally represent the infinite and are often used as tools in meditation to contemplate the unity of the universe.

It is important to remember this, now more than ever. All organisms of the past were not leading towards this moment or anticipating the evolution of humans. Rather, we are one species among a sea of life containing unimaginable grandeur. Each animal is whole and complete in its own right, regardless of whether or not it eventually went extinct. While the times are difficult, perhaps one day soon humanity will come together in an effort to protect and restore the natural habitats of Earth so that life can continue to grow and change as time goes on.