RISING from the earth and gazing towards the clouds, an iconic and unique piece of artwork is slowly making its massive presence felt in the Northumberland landscape.

Fashioned from 1.5 million tonnes of soil and clay, the huge Northumberlandia earth sculpture will eventually be the world’s biggest-ever sculpted human form.

Almost 18 months after work started on the £2.5m creation, her features are gradually becoming more recognisable to passers-by.

Train passengers, motorists and walkers are now able to discern the sculpture’s emerging face and bodily form as the bulldozers and excavators continue their task of bringing her to life.

Northumberlandia – which has been dubbed the Goddess of the North – is a landform depicting a naked, reclining female. The sculpture is the brainchild of renowned American landscape architect and artist Charles Jencks, and is being created from materials excavated as part of the Shotton opencast coal mine at Shotton near Cramlington.

It is said to celebrate the earth’s natural power and the human ability to reshape landscape into a dramatic form.

The work, which started in April last year, is being carried out by site operator the Banks Group. Nestling among man-made lakes, Northumberlandia will be the centrepiece of a 14.5 hectare public park. The completed sculpture will be 400 metres long and taller than an eight-storey building at her highest point.

She will be up to 34 metres high, seven and a half times the size of the St James’s Park football pitch and it will take about 20 minutes to walk the 1,162 metre-long path around her.