SCANimation: Rattlesnake Master

Rattlesnake Master was created with scanned natural materials, including native and non-native plants, dirt, insects, and a five-foot snakeskin. These materials were then animated using various digital arts programs.

Rattlesnake Master is part of a larger body of work, Illuminated Curiosities.  These works explore connections between natural history collections, colonialism, gender, and power structures. Rattlesnake Master is named for a native Maryland plant purported to be used in snake handling ceremonies by indigenous peoples, though no evidence of this practice exists. Sensationalized tales were common during the era of early colonization; explorers would return to Europe with fictitious stories detailing the customs of non-Europeans, reinforcing ethnocentric hierarchies of the time. Though snakes traditionally represent deceit in Western culture, the snake depicted in Rattlesnake Master represents transformation and growth.

Rattlesnake Master was exhibited in the juried exhibition Reverie and Alchemy and at the CCBC Art+Design department Biennial. 

You can view the animation here.