Abstract
It all began with a dream, or rather, a nightmare. I was being bitten by a snake, devoured whole by a snake, a snake made of flames, snakes all over my body. Seemingly out of nowhere, I began having horrible nightmares about a creature which, until that point, I had felt fairly ambivalent towards. With nightmares came phobia–even the picture of a snake would start my heart pounding in my chest.
As I pondered this newfound fear, I began to wonder at the fact that snakes bear an important place in many of the world’s religions and spiritual beliefs. I could not help but feel there was something important in these dreams, and I wanted to know more. First and foremost, I decided to just start learning about snakes. I am of the belief that fear is often rooted in an idea of “otherness.” That which we don’t understand scares us. So I began reading about snake safety, which then led to reading about snake taxonomy and science, and then to drawing their unique forms. That line of inquiry eventually evolved into this project.
I created a series of shadow boxes, each one depicting a story or spiritual belief about snakes from a distinct cultural background. There is a box representing the story of the Garden of Eden from Abrahamic religions, specifically Gnosticism, one representing the Hindu god Shesha, another of the Ouroboros, a symbol shared by many cultures, and lastly a depiction of the Snake Dance from the Native American Hopi people. The boxes were built out of wood, and then populated with layers of laser-cut wood. The layers were painted and decoupaged with various materials, then arranged in the boxes with LED lights, for custom, hidden, internal lighting schemes for each.
I am happy to report that my methods have worked better than I could have ever expected. I have gone from being afraid of snakes to being a weird snake lady, and I have no regrets.
Artist Statement
Like many artists, Isabel Gibson got her start at a young age drawing and painting. However, by age 10 she had started to expand into other media with a gift of her first film camera. Throughout her teen years and early twenties she added graphic design, stenciling, and screen printing to her repertoire, and slowly but surely began combining these various disciplines. This trend towards multimedia processes has only continued to develop within her body of work.
Her second round of college education at PNCA has been defined by a push into 3d materials. Exploring traditional woodworking and joinery, metalworking and welding, and using digital fabrication tools such as the laser cutter and 3d printer has revolutionized the type of work Isabel seeks to create. A single piece of artwork may entail taking a reference photograph, doing a digital illustration of that image, vectorizing the illustration using Adobe Illustrator, using the vector image to cut and engrave a piece of wood, painting the surface of the laser cut
object, and finally incorporating this wood object into a larger creation using traditional woodworking skills. The addition of digital tools has hugely streamlined this process, while a strong foundation of drawing, woodworking, and painting keeps the practice grounded in craftsmanship and technique.
As an avid outdoors enthusiast and environmental advocate, Isabel’s greatest inspiration–both in and outside the studio–is the natural world. Her work is primarily centered around imagery of plants, animals, and landscapes. She attempts to create work that is ornate, detailed, and organic, in hopes of capturing the feeling of immaculate beauty she experiences when out in nature. While her work is based on close observation of the natural world, it does not strive to be perfectly realistic. Her style is defined by clean lines, flowing patterns, and geometric compositions.
She has associates degrees in visual arts and Spanish from Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, CA, and in fall of 2022 will receive a BFA from Pacific Northwest College of Art.