2025: A Year of Coiled Potential
2025: A Year of Coiled Potential
The year of the snake is upon us, read about our slithery companion’s symbolism and significance in the world of art.
Tarsila do Amaral, Urutu Viper, 1928
Early modernist painter Tarsila do Amaral is one of my favourites, after seeing her work ‘O vendedor de frutas’ (‘The Fruit Seller’, 1925) at Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America at National Gallery Singapore, which this incredible first large-scale museum exhibition which compared art from Southeast Asia and Latin America, with a particular focus on their struggles against colonialism.
As we step into 2025, it’s only fitting to draw inspiration from one of the most enduring and enigmatic symbols in art history: the snake. The snake’s presence in various cultures, mythologies, and artistic traditions holds profound meanings—from transformation to protection, from fertility to renewal.
At Art Again, this year, we’re channeling the snake’s energy as a symbol of the growth we aim to achieve and the community we’re fostering in recirculating art.
Snakes in Art: A Dual Symbol
Across centuries, snakes have represented both revered and feared qualities. In mythology, they act as protectors, healers, and gatekeepers to sacred knowledge. In art, they have adorned canvases, sculptures, and ritualistic artifacts, always demanding interpretation.
Transformation and Renewal
The snake’s ability to shed its skin has made it a universal emblem of transformation. In many cultures, this act is not just physical renewal but a metaphor for spiritual and personal growth. In Tarsila do Amaral’s Urutu Viper, for example, the snake coils with latent energy—a striking metaphor for the quiet, internal power that precedes change.
Snake pagodas in Myanmar are unique Buddhist temples where Burmese pythons are revered. This tradition began when a python repeatedly returned to a temple, leading local monks to believe it was the reincarnation of a devoted monk. The monks embraced the snake as the temple's guardian, and this belief gave rise to the practice of keeping serpents in temples as symbols of protection and spiritual significance. These snakes, lying still and revered in sacred spaces, are not aggressive; they symbolise peace, harmony, and cyclical renewal (like recirculating art on Art Again).
Richie Nath, Killing of an Ancient God, 2021
Burmese artist Richie Nath is a queer artist, illustrator and painter—one to watch!
His work focuses on the human figure, featuring reinvented scenes from folklore, he tackles themes of identity and politics, drawing on his own experience of growing up in a conservative society.
Gender
In Southeast Asia, Nagas—mythical serpent beings—are venerated as protectors of waterways and fertility. Artistic depictions of Nagas often intertwine their coiled bodies with motifs of abundance and continuity. This imagery underscores a fundamental truth: creativity and growth flow like water, often in unexpected directions.
Across cultures, the serpent has undergone a fascinating transformation in meaning. In early myths like that of Nüwa, the serpent symbolised creation, healing, and feminine power. Over time, however, it became associated with destruction, evil, and death in many traditions. This evolution reflects broader cultural shifts and the erasure of matriarchal systems in popular belief.
Nüwa is a goddess from Chinese creation myths, depicted with the head of a human and the body of a serpent. She is credited with creating humanity from yellow clay and repairing the sky using melted stones of five colors after it was damaged. Nüwa’s story embodies the serpent as a symbol of creation, healing, and cosmic balance in Chinese tradition.
Wisdom, Healing and Cyclicity
Gustav Klimt’s Hygieia, a central figure in The Medicine, holds a serpent—a reference to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. Here, the snake signifies the wisdom required to heal and transform.
Incredible cassava starch batik of an Ouroboros by Austrian-Nigerian artist Susanne Wenger.
This association between the snake and knowledge appears across cultures, including the ouroboros, the ancient Egyptian symbol of a serpent eating its tail, representing eternity and the cyclical nature of life.
A Year of Coiled Potential
As Art Again embarks on 2025, we see ourselves much like the snake: adaptive, resilient, and ready to strike with intention. Our journey is not linear but serpentine, winding through opportunities and challenges, shedding what no longer serves us, and emerging renewed.
This year, we invite you to join us in creating growth, creativity, and connection. Whether it’s discovering a hidden gem for your collection, participating in our events, or simply appreciating the stories behind each piece of art, together we can weave a narrative of transformation and renewal.
Let’s embrace the snake’s wisdom and coiled energy as we move forward. Here’s to a year of shedding, growing, and thriving for Art Again and the community we’re building.
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Here’s a snake charmer artwork on our site available for purchase:
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© Art Again 2025