The cosmic serpent

About the work

The cosmic serpent investigates this animal as a symbol of healing and transformation at the intersection between the history of pharmacy and Indigenous cosmologies. Traditionally associated with the duality of poison and remedy — where the difference lies strictly in the dose — the serpent reappears on this canvas released from its purely Western reading. The composition, populated by stars and circular forms, evokes an integrated cosmos in which the serpentine figure embodies the very life force that crawls across the earth, connecting the visible dimension of the body to the invisible dimension of the soul.

The painting materialises a decolonial healing, in which health is not limited to chemical dosages but is realised in the capacity for transmutation and in respect for the flows of nature shared in the daily life of the territory. By stitching the pharmaceutical symbol to the ancestral wisdom of the forests, the work affirms that the true mystery of healing lies in the ability to be reborn and to integrate oneself into the living organism that is the earth.

In the red and yellow windows that cover the serpent's body, the artist multiplies the mineral gaze she found in the dense bark of the Jurema Preta.