Visual Art / Moonsnake by Steven Holland. At Tuggeranong Arts Centre, to April 5. Reviewed by ROB KENNEDY.

Artist Steven Holland connects snake dream drawings and bronze sculptures in his exhibition that coincides with the Lunar Year of the Snake in 2025.

Raised in Western Australia’s outback, where he caught a fascination for local snakes, Holland went on to study visual arts at Curtin University WA, later completing postgraduate studies at the ANU School of Art and Design.

Consisting of 17 artworks made from bronze, tissue, newspaper, paint, nail varnish, cotton, aluminum foil and a variety of other mediums, Holland’s artworks in this exhibition say there is little he won’t use to get his message across.

While snakes have been feared and misunderstood in many cultures since ancient times, these creations portray them as strong, stealthy, and sublime creatures that can twist themselves into almost any shape.

Several are so lifelike it’s as though they have just crawled from the bush and into the art gallery.

As a child, a rubber snake I had was a most treasured toy. I would scare people with it and then use it for imaginative play. So, I can see his fascination.

The bronze sculptures capture the three-dimensional form of snakes just like they are the real thing, but it’s the drawings that create greater artistic interest.

The tissue paper used to represent not just the landscape on the drawings, but also the shedding of the snake’s skin, offers a sense of the real environment while adding a three-dimensional aspect.

The way Holland has coiled each snake into distinct positions and shapes, show how these creatures are able to transform themselves based upon where they are and what they’re doing. This transformation, I’m sure, is partly due to most people’s indifference to them. Shape shifting is seen as a sign of the occult or evil.

Holland’s bronze work titled Sito, in two parts, reminds me of the Julie Rrap artwork titled Overstepping. The idea is different, but the effect similar. Rrap was making a commentary about how high-heeled shoes morph into women’s feet and reshape the female form. But here in Sito, Holland has what look like male human feet at the ends of snakes, perhaps alluding to the connection of male sexuality being seen by some as venomous.

Getting up close to these artworks may relieve the fear of snakes for some people. It might also show the beauty found in these earthly creatures, which is clearly on display.