Helen Davies

As A Snake You Coil and as a Serpent You Hiss is an extension of this idea. The vessel is sumptuous and inviting as a womb. The highly decorated vase has a version of Ave Vasa on one side, and me as Lamia, the child-killing demon, on the other. The other two images are a weasel fur-tippet, which often symbolises fertility in Renaissance portraits of young women; and a lynx, which symbolises a lack of interest in children and possible involvement with a family business – a Renaissance career gal, as it were.