Sai-Wai Foo

This commission for the City of Melbourne’s Lunar New Year celebrations. A series of six new works created to commemorate the Year of the Snake. The Year of the Wood Snake begins on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. The snake (蛇) is the sixth of the twelve-year animal cycle that appears in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Snake is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 巳.

These works are now installed in Melbourne’s Whitehart Lane as a larger-than-life outdoor gallery that is accessible 24 hours a day. The images are reproduced on a grand scale and applied directly on the walls of this laneway and are repeated twice in the laneway.

These artworks are analog collages with imagery collected from second-hand books that have fulfilled their usefulness with their previous owners. Images have been carefully extracted and composed to create images secured with glue and pins—disparate elements combined to create cohesive forms.

Five artworks are homage to the five elements in Chinese philosophy: Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth, which are all interconnected. The sixth artwork is a reference to a Chinese creation myth about Nü Wa, a snake goddess.

Drawing from Chinese mythology, folklore, and my own memories of the Lunar New Year, these works intertwine symbolism and materiality. Elements of the Five Elements Theory—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—anchor the series, each reflecting facets of abundance, fertility, and harmony. From ceramic forms laden with symbolic fruits and flowers to intricate vessels adorned with intertwining snakes, these pieces pay homage to the cultural and spiritual significance of the season.

They draw inspiration from the experience of the Lunar New Year from a personal lens, growing up part of the Chinese diaspora far from a cultural home. New Year celebrations have always been about family, food, red packets, new clothes, and most of all, a place of belonging.

Lunar New Year is not a static celebration—it is a dynamic tradition that embraces the changes brought by time, place, and culture. There is no right or wrong way to celebrate the new year as with most festivities, it has changed, adapted, and taken elements of our adopted homes. Heritage adapts and thrives in new contexts; it welcomes changes, cultural shifts, technology, and ideas, but at its core, it is an opportunity to come together and celebrate.

Nü Wa

Snakes appear in many creation myths creation myths of ancient China, the legends of the female divinity Nü Wa, a snake goddess.

The earliest creation myths from China, Nü Wa is a powerful goddess, the creator of humankind. She is a matchmaker, bestows fertility, invents sound and music, and brings harmony to heaven, earth, and humanity. She is most often portrayed as a snake deity much akin to other cross-cultural mythologies linked with the snake and creation, to matriarchal primogenitors. Nü Wa is mostly depicted as half-human, half-snake (later half-dragon) and always as a semi-mythical and supernatural being. 

In creation myth is she is said to have formed humans out of mud or clay with her hands. In this interpretation the myth she is surrounded by early ceramic forms who were her first creations. She is haloed by blossoms and is the form of a stone carving with a snake’s tail.

Wood Snake

Wood Snake is the embodiment of vitality and abundance, drawing inspiration from the interconnectedness of nature and cultural traditions. A tree, laden with lush foliage and symbolic fruits, emerges from a central pot, its branches radiating the energy of growth and renewal.

At the base, snakes coil gracefully alongside festive fruits—tangerines, oranges, apples, peaches, and plums—each chosen for their symbolism in Lunar New Year celebrations. These fruits evoke prosperity, good fortune, and the harmonious spirit of togetherness that defines this season of renewal.

The tree itself represents the potential for growth and expansion, its branches mirroring the vitality and resilience of life. The entwined forms of the snakes at its base symbolize transformation and continuity, underscoring the cyclical nature of the seasons and the connection between past, present, and future.

Earth Snake

Earth Snake explores the interplay of symbolism, memory, and materiality, reflecting the cultural traditions of Lunar New Year and their resonance in contemporary life. This piece—a ceramic neck pillow sculpted in the form of a child, cradling a tangle of vibrant blooms. The ceramic pillow, anchors the work in notions of rest, comfort, and continuity. Its depiction of a child nods to the cyclical nature of life, fertility, and the importance of family during Lunar New Year. The tangles of florals spilling from its surface symbolize abundance and the interconnectedness of natural and cultural renewal. Symbolic objects and rituals bridge the past and present, carrying forward the hopes and aspirations of generations. It is both a celebration of heritage and a call to embrace prosperity and joy.

Each element in this work is carefully chosen for its cultural significance. Orchids, narcissus, gladiolus, chrysanthemums, anthuriums, peach blossoms, and lotus flowers—traditional Lunar New Year blooms—embody wishes for good fortune, prosperity, and happiness. Their delicate forms and rich symbolism fill homes during the season, transforming spaces into welcoming sanctuaries of hope and abundance. Red, a dominant thread throughout this composition, is a universal emblem of joy and vitality in Chinese culture. It evokes the energy of new beginnings, the promise of luck, and familial connection, weaving through the sculpture as a visual and symbolic lifeline.

Water Snake

Water Snake, reflects the fluid, transformative power of water and its deep connections to the feminine principle embodied in the moon. A classic blue-and-white porcelain vessel, its timeless design evoking the delicate balance of tradition and natural forces. Encircling the vessel, a sea snake coils with graceful tension, its form both protective and dynamic, symbolizing the cycles of renewal and transformation.

Studded with freshwater pearls, the piece draws on the treasures of the ocean, representing purity, wisdom, and the enduring mysteries of the deep. In place of the moon, an urchin rises as a celestial symbol, highlighting the moon’s influence on tides and its intimate connection to water as a life-sustaining force. The moon, representing yin—the feminine principle in Chinese philosophy—balances the power of water’s flow with its quiet resilience and strength.

This sculpture explores themes of cyclical motion and the interconnectedness of natural and celestial realms. The sea snake, a creature of duality, embodies both the fluidity and the potency of water, while the porcelain vessel serves as a reminder of human artistry and our deep cultural ties to these elemental forces.

Fire Snake

Fire Snake is a celebration of rebirth and transformation, capturing the dichotomy of fire as both a creator and destroyer. Central to the piece are two intertwined serpent forms, their sinuous shapes embodying the shedding of old skin—a symbolic act of renewal and the embrace of new beginnings.

Surrounding the serpents, flowers in vibrant shades of vermilion and crimson take the place of flames, their fiery hues representing the heat, light, and energy that fire brings. These blooms, bursting with life, contrast with the serpents’ forms, reminding us that from destruction comes the potential for growth and regeneration.

Lunar New Year: a time to honour the past while stepping into the future with hope and vitality; transformative power of letting go, the beauty of renewal, and the interplay of opposites that fuels life’s cycles.

Metal Snake

Metal Snake embodies the qualities of strength, clarity, and precision, inspired by the energy of the Metal element in Chinese philosophy. The central form is an ornate Chinese bronze vessel, a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

Snake tails emerging from its top and curling elegantly, alongside delicate florals balance the structure’s solid strength, softening its bold presence, harmony between disparate elements. This work explores the dual nature of Metal: its capacity to create prosperity and luxury while demanding discipline and resilience. The interplay of bronze and organic elements speaks to the unyielding principles that guide growth and transformation, celebrating the strength required to achieve clarity, purpose and courage needed to embrace change.

ARTWORK ENQUIRES: Australian Galleries