Tsua: Contemporary Cave of Curiosity Pier-2 Art Center, C-5 Warehouse 11/22/24 - 4/13/25
Exhibition location |C5 Contemporary Hall, Daiyong District
The exhibition "TSUA Contemporary Curious Cave" in the Chang'e Contemporary Pavilion takes the image of snakes as the theme, turning the warehouse into a fantasy cave. 10 domestic and foreign creators are invited to fuse traditional techniques and trendy designs together to represent the multiple faces of snakes.
People have a general fear and lack of understanding of snakes; yet they are present in the mythology and religious beliefs of both the East and West. Among different ethnic groups, and many creators are inspired to incorporate elements of snakes into their works, giving us the opportunity to re-recognize the beauty and uniqueness of snakes
The works on display cover contemporary art, traditional craft, costume design, illustrations, tattoos and embroidery. Everyone is welcome to dive into the lair of contemporary art and explore the mysterious and beautiful world of snakes!
This exhibition will remain on display through the beginning of the year of the snake of the Chinese zodiac.
For this exhibition, I was invited to create works interpreting the role of the snake in Judeo-Christian culture. These pieces present the serpent in the story of the ‘fall of man’ from the Garden of Eden. In the sculptures, snake scales peak out from behind leaves and flowers, tempting viewers to look closer. Their heads are never visible, yet the potential for danger remains. Around the snakes, the flowers are dying and fading in color, representing the end of eternal paradise in the garden. The terrarium acts to freeze this moment of transformation in time, preserving the transition from life to death under glass domes like specimens in a museum.
The textile works represent a different transformation, inspired by the Jewish folklore story of Lilith, Adam’s first wife. After being exiled from the Garden of Eden for refusing to submit to her husband, she returns in the guise of a serpent to tempt Eve with an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. In these pieces, Judith is no longer the villain of the story, she’s an agent of change evolving humans into conscious beings that understand both good and evil. By introducing pain and death, her actions gave a new meaning to life.