Continuing the Copperhead : bronze casting processes and elapid snakes of the Canberra district

Abstract

This PhD inquiry is a sculptural study of some of the elapid snakes from the districts surrounding Canberra. As a practice-led research it examines the Eastern Brown Snake, the Red-bellied Black Snake, the Death Adder and the Tiger Snake as biological and socially constructed animals through the material of bronze. The project investigates the properties of bronze and the processes of bronze lost wax casting to see if these material agents can somehow reveal the lives of snakes. It resulted in a series of bronze Serpent sculptures which aimed to affirm the life of venomous snakes and create a greater acceptance of their existence. Some of these sculptures were exhibited in different cultural venues including the ACT Herpetological Association exhibition Snakes Alive where they were seen by large audiences. The sculptural inquiry locates elapid snakes from the regions around Canberra in the field of bronze Serpent sculpture within the broader sphere of snakes in Art, Biology and human culture.