My snake sculptures are an attempt to de-mystify a historically slandered and often misunderstood creature. Snakes are not malevolent but simply predators that sometimes revive deep, primal fears. In Eastern traditions, the snake is a symbol of wisdom and internal power. Ever capable of change (shedding the skin and thus “reborn”), the snake is a powerful totem for transformation.
We often loathe that which we don’t understand. In my art I often choose to represent deadly venomous snakes and large constrictors because they are the ones we avoid in nature. However, I have also created some smaller species that don’t hunt anything larger than a mouse, and ones that may be more familiar to us in North America.
My sculptures are as close to life size as I can make them, and I include a brief natural history for each one so viewers have a better sense of them as unique and fascinating creatures. It is my hope that by capturing their likeness with wood and paint, I will spark curiosity for, rather than fear of, these beautiful animals.
A slender snake found in northeastern Mexico. Its habitat ranges from rocky hillsides and desert mountains to grassy areas and oak forests. A slender colubride less than three feet in length, it is marked with distinctive reddish saddles edged in black on a background of grey or brown. The subspecies shown here has distinctive red head markings. Secretive and nocturnal, it feeds on lizards, small mammals and amphibians. (42in. acrylic and wood, $200)
