This piece examines the history and lore of the snake as a notorious American symbol and the ways these symbols are employed today in US mythology. Using the visual identity of the Gadsden flag and an article by “An American Guesser” (known now to be Ben Franklin) recording descriptions of military flags with images of rattlesnakes as a starting point, I create an installation using visuals of car dealership pennants, 4th of July bunting, and targets to complicate the narrative Franklin began. 

An excerpt from Franklin’s editorial: "Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America? The poison of her teeth is the necessary means of digesting her food, and at the same time is certain destruction to her enemies. This may be understood to intimate that those things which are destructive to our enemies, may be to us not only harmless, but absolutely necessary to our existence. I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, 'till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers. Perhaps it might be only fancy, but, I conceited the painter had shown a half formed additional rattle, which, I suppose, may have been intended to represent the province of Canada." 

Installed at Alabama Contemporary Art Center in Spring 2021.