Welded steel, 28 x 12 x 12, 2002.
“Kingsnake” is the name of a real species, one that preys on other snakes, and the sculpture reads the name as a rank. This snake has a human head and a crown. The head is in profile at the top, with full lips pushed forward, and a pale cylinder rests on it at a slant, reading as a crown or cap.
Below the head is only neck. A single ribbed stalk rises from a round jar standing on a flat disc, several times the height of the jar. A snake rising from a pot is the image of the snake charmer’s act, and the jar sets up that scene. No charmer is in the group and the figure rises alone. The head is the only part with features, and it sits at the far end of the longest part of the body.
The surfaces change as the eye climbs. The jar and the head are dark and polished, the stalk is ridged, and the crown is the lightest element in the piece. Rank is shown by height: the crown is at the greatest distance from the jar that the body allows.
