"Zalktis (The Grass Snake)" by Zane Zarakovska

Zane Zarakovska
"Zalktis (The Grass Snake)"

Location: Dundee, Scotland, UK
Technique: relief print, linocut
Social Media: @werewitchcrafts
Website: https://werewitchcrafts.co.uk
Print Number: 1968

A grass snake is a significant creature in Latvian folklore. Being non-venomous, it was considered a good snake, and was associated with good fortune, wisdom, and deities, especially the goddess M?ra (a chthonic mother goddess of birth, death, and fertility). There are tales of people feeding grass snakes with milk, like an offering to a household spirit, and it was considered that killing a grass snake that's come to your home will bring bad luck. If one has managed to catch and eat the elusive white grass snake, it's said, one can gain mystical powers to speak with their dead loved ones. The Latvian folk symbol of the grass snake (one of those seen on the snake's back in this artwork) is associated with wisdom, rebirth, and the land of the dead, and it's a popular symbol to be used in Latvian folk attire, especially woven sashes. Printed in two layers with Caligo Safe Wash ink on 86gsm Awagami masa paper.

Seen in the following exhibitions: