Art object

A snake coiled in the middle of the canvas, standing two fingers proud of it. The body is pale sand, the scales worked along the whole length, the head lowered.

An art object on canvas, 100 × 80 cm, mixed media.

The ground is ochre-black and cracked, like bark or like a wall the plaster has come off. The snake is of the same substance as the ground, and only the relief tells them apart.

I modelled it separately and set it onto the finished surface. There is no other way. Under its own weight the mass slides while it dries.

The coils are laid so that the eye runs along the body and comes back to the start. There is no way out of that circle, and that too is part of the work.

Textured wall art like this asks for side light. From above the snake goes flat; from the side it throws a shadow onto the ground and comes alive.

Hang it in a study, in a living room with dark walls, in a hall. Beside old wooden furniture it stands particularly well.