The Snake Charmer

2012/2021

granite, landscape, water, flora, fauna
tableau: 5mH x 6mW x 8mD
figure: 1.95mH x 500mmW

Series: Subject-Object

With deep reflections and silky curves, an evocative ink-black stone figure stands beneath twisting serpentine branches, changing like a chameleon with shifts in conditions and light. The sculpture tableau reconceptualises a 1907 painting of the same name by Henri Rousseau, transforming Eve from an exotic chanteuse into a modern text icon, and Eden from idealised jungle to a real Pacific idyll. The abstract I-figure stands in place of Rousseau's flute; a modern mouthpiece articulating sound through form. Dark and mysterious at a distance, and alluring up close, The Snake Charmer watches over land and sea. Like a siren or guardian, the spirit figure alerts us of things we might sense but cannot see.