Mixed media by Julia Datchenko

This papercut is a myth about the first mothers of the world, about the moment when life is just emerging from chaos. It shows the unity of the female and bird principles—instinct and spirit, flesh and flight. Bird-women bow down to the earth to give it new life, thus becoming mediators between worlds. From the sky they bring movement, from the earth – peace, and from the egg – the beginning of a new world. Female bodies with wings are an image of maternal energy that encompasses the sky and the earth. They are not just women or birds, but first creations, mediators between the spiritual and material worlds. Their lack of hands symbolizes submission to a higher power: they do not act with their hands, but live through spirit, flight, and creativity. Bird heads bowed to the ground are a sign of respect for the source of life, an act of returning to the beginning, to the origins. It is like a movement of prayer, gratitude, and contemplation. The egg between the creatures' legs is an archetypal symbol of birth, the endless circle of life, and female potency. This is not only biological birth, but also the birth of the world, thought, and spirit. The tree of life with an egg-flower is the axis of the world, combining three elements: earth, man (the female body), and sky (bird wings). The egg-flower at the top is the fruit of spiritual light, the beginning of a new cycle. The eggs on this papercut symbolize the idea of the multiplication of life, a continuous cycle that never stops.