FIRE DANCE

The Arch Complex| Undara Volcanic National Park | Queensland | Australia

The Ancient Fire Dance | Scott Bennett | 2010 | Acrylic on canvas | 36″ x 48″ | Private collection

The intertwined trees remind me of two dancers. The shape of the lava tube and rockfall from which the trees emerge form a double helix.

The molten lava would once have extinguished all life but now cooled, solidified and eroded, it is its very cradle.

This remnant forest is now protected from fire by those ancient flows. The great expanse of time involved in the formation of this scene staggers the imagination.