2025 :: the garden serpent
Tlaxcala3, CDMX Mexico
Seattle Art Fair, Seattle WA
fabric, thread, sequins, organic material
The serpent was taught to me through a Catholic lens as a symbol of betrayal and deceit. Having been born in the year 1989, I learned at a young age that in Chinese astrology, I was the snake, described as a symbol of transformation, wise and introspective. My childhood self took this to understand that I contained within me a dark evil, but one that could be meditated on and emerge powerful and wise.
As a non-binary person (assigned female at birth), I spent years uncomfortably attempting to fit my body into feminine adornment, while inside of me the balancing masculine element was quietly growing. As I grow older, my outer skins are drying up and slowly shedding to reveal a balance of feminine and masculine within myself, rather than a binary gender. It is in my herb garden where I most engage in these thoughts; the serpent slides silently through the plants, shedding skins of their former self to reveal fresh new pink growth, leaving the dead skins behind to compost in the soil.
