HEAD OF THE SNAKE

As part of the inaugural Linenhall Arts Center international residency, I was invited to develop a project in Castlebar on the western coast of Ireland. Over a period of six weeks I created a set of works based on existing myths in the region - specifically, I was drawn to the Selkie, a mermaid/seal character that was metaphorical for stolen or denied freedom from a feminist perspective.

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I created a series of prints as well as a video piece (work in progress) that introduces a character named Msambwa (meaning spirit that rules the living); a snake spirit inspired by the python rituals that are carried out in north-western Tanzania. I was interested in the similarities of symbols and how myths were integral to the environmental respect of the west as well as what the snake symbolised before Christianity - wisdom, health and power. How truth, reality and fiction seem to have unclear borders of separation when belief inspires action.