In Taming the Snake, a straightforward piece depicting a snake, color and simple lines create a powerful and compelling image. The snake in the piece is full of life and motion, curling and winding upward, its body flexing to the sound of the snake charmer’s music. The snake charmer’s stick is also visible in the painting, and it reaches out to prod the snake in order to control its movement. The snake’s body wraps itself a fairly sizeable floating, solid-colored ball, which is a physical manifestation of the snake charmer’s power over the snake.
The snake is red in color, as is the snake charmer’s stick and the floating ball. The choice of the color red is an interesting one. Red is an aggressive color, connoting power and untamed strength, yet the snake in the painting is completely under the snake charmer’s power. Yet the red color serves to remind the viewer of the wild power that the charmer has harnessed. The snake’s natural aggression remains present under the surface, despite the snake charmer’s ability to captivate the snake. Though the snake has been tamed for now, the snake charmer’s hold in tenuous, and the snake’s natural predatory tendencies remain a part of its nature.
©1998-2009 Claretta Taylor Webb. All Rights Reserved
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