This is what Mosaic Canyon in Death Valley reminded me of. It’s a sculpture garden in Escondido, about 35 miles north of San Diego. It was created by Niki de Saint Phalle, (or here) who has done several local sculptures in San Diego. It’s called Queen Califia’s Magic Circle. Queen Califia, for those of you not up on California black mythology, was a black amazon queen for whom the state of California was named. That’s a better story than it is a history, but what the heck!
I refrained from adding comments to these pictures. The titles (“Eagle Throne”, “Snake Wall”…) are ones she used. Just look at them and enjoy.
She also has a large sculpture garden in Spain, which I’d like to see someday.
It’s really quite surprising to visit an ordinary-looking park, and suddenly come across a maze full of whimsey. I really love it when a civic group can stop being serious and do something totally off the wall like this. There’s another example in Coachman Park, in Clearwater, FL, a well-known venue for concerts and frisby-chasing. It has a little waterfall, and almost hidden in the foliage are two man-sized figures of what I can only call lizardmen. I wish I had pictures of them, but I don’t. It’s totally out of character for Clearwater, and I think it’s great.
