The Nine is an act of remembering.
From a single block of Carrara marble, nine forms are released—each a portal, a presence, a fragment of the whole. Cut with intention, placed in relation, they form a space that invites us not only to pass through, but to return to something within ourselves.
This is a sculpture you can walk inside. A geometry of gathering, echoing the ancient intuition that form can hold meaning, that space can open memory.
THE FORM
Quarried from the mountains of Carrara, the same stone used by Michelangelo, The Nine is born from a single monolithic block of marble. Through nine precise, poetic cuts, the block is divided—not broken—but opened. Each piece becomes a standing archway or monolith, arranged in a harmonic configuration 3 meters high, 4 wide, and 6 long.The work settles into its environment like a kind of ancient instrument—quietly
The work settles into its environment like a kind of ancient instrument—quietly attuned to the terrain around it. As people move through and around the sculpture, they are invited to look outward as much as inward. The forms become lenses or thresholds through which the surrounding world is seen anew. It becomes a place of reflection and perception, grounded in stone, open to sky.
The Nine is a remembering of our deep connection to earth, to place, and to the primal need for meaningful space.
And yet, the original block remains. The forms can be returned, reassembled. The potential of unity is always held within the multiplicity.
THE PROCESS & PARTICIPATION
The Nine is being realized through a new model for funding public art, developed by Cathia Ziebel. This approach, sometimes called a social mandala, is built around a core group of nine founding collectors. Each supports one ninth of the project, forming both the symbolic and financial foundation of the work.
This model offers an alternative to traditional funding structures—one based on shared vision, mutual investment, and collective meaning.
Beyond the founding circle, we welcome aligned partners—institutions, sponsors, curators, and craftspeople—who bring their expertise, resources, and creativity into the fold. These collaborations are professional, purposeful, and fully recognized.
Those who take part do so not only through what they do, but through who they are. Each person’s passion, perspective, and magic becomes part of the greater whole.
This is more than a project. It’s a convergence of excellence around something timeless and shared.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jacob Lucius Cartwright, born in Australia in 1982, is a third-generation artist and composer. Now based in Pietrasanta, Tuscany, he works primarily in sculpture and sound—integrating material and resonance through a practice rooted in deep listening, intuition, and form.
His recent public work, Memory Palace, commissioned for Riyadh, explored themes of collective remembrance and architectural space as vessels for identity, memory, and shared becoming. Like The Nine, it reflects his ongoing inquiry into how structure—both physical and symbolic—shapes our inner and outer worlds.
Cartwright is the co-founder of Tre Luci Art Studios, a creative mandala of six international artists dedicated to mutual growth and the cultivation of creative brilliance. The studio itself is a living expression of the collaborative ethos at the heart of The Nine.
He works closely with his partner, Ashley McLeod, who brings art into the world as a force for healing. With a deep commitment to collaboration, Ashley works alongside a global network of connectors and consultants to realize this vision. She supports a select group of artists in amplifying work that fosters transformation, presence, and beauty.
Cartwright’s ongoing series, The King’s Cartographer, maps the inner landscape through architectural archetypes—portals, thresholds, and temples—tracing the reflection between inner states and outer structures. His work has been exhibited internationally and lives in private collections around the world.
The Nine is an offering. A place to return to, to walk through, to wonder.
Its story is still unfolding—shaped by those who feel called to be part of it.
If something in this work speaks to you, you are warmly invited to connect.