Soe Yu Nwe, Naga Mae Daw Serpent, glazed porcelain, gold and mother-of-pearl lustre. Collection of Queensland Art Gallery

Soe Yu Nwe explains why she is drawn to the snake as inspiration for her work.

(A message to the reader in Burmese.)

(A message to the reader in English.)

✿ Why did you make the Snake Woman?

I created the snake woman to reconfigure the idea of a serpent embedded in the collective mindset that’s shaped by the western religion and belief, as the snake that whisper of the voice of evil to Eve to eat the apple. As someone whose Chinese zodiac sign is also a snake, it also holds symbolic meaning for my sense of self. Through my work, I hope to work with this perception of the animal and offer a wider view regarding the beliefs around this animal.

✿ What does it mean to you?

To me, snakes mean healing, transformation, renewal, regeneration and destruction, and ancient wisdom. One example would be the symbol of ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail, self-destroying but also self-healing and self-birthing. Snakes are also a creationist symbol for me, an endless creative, maternal energy that gives birth to all the creatures of the world, as in the Chinese creationist goddess Nuwa.

✿ How did you make it?

I made the work by coiling technique with clay during my residency in Shigaraki, an ancient ceramic city in Japan. The color of the work is predominantly green, reminiscent of the latent state of the plant world, something on the verge of growing or transforming into new possibilities.

✿ What presence does the snake have in your place?

Snake is a close relative of Naga, a mythical serpentine creature that is closer to a snake than a dragon. In my work, I create both snake and Naga to explore the similarities and differences between the two creatures. In Myanmar, there are a few Snake temples. One of the temples I visited is Baung Daw Gyoke Pagoda in Twente, across the river from Yangon. These temples are also known as Hmwe Phayar meaning Snake Temple. Another temple in Mandalay that I visited has both the snakes and Buddha statues but also Naga Maedaw, meaning Naga Queen inside the temple. I see this as the connection to the guardian of the underworld, water and protector of Buddha, as in one of the Buddhist myths, Naga king Mucalinda emerged from a nearby lake to spread his hood to protect the fasting and meditating Buddha from stormy rain and wind for seven days.

About Soe Yu Nwe

I am an artist from Myanmar, currently based in the ancient ceramic city of Shigaraki, Japan. As an invited guest resident artist at the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, I am making work for my exhibitions in Japan and overseas. My most recent exhibitions were at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea and the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore. My upcoming group exhibition will be at Simose Art Museum in April. See also Leeum Museum of Art, DreamScreen and Sundaram Tagore, Disobedient Bodies. Follow @soeyunwe. 

Tags

ceramics | G38 | gender | Myanmar | snake