Serpent Deity (Nag Devta I)

1979

Serpent Deity (Nag Devta I), 1979. Mrinalini Mukherjee (Indian, 1949–2015). Undyed and dyed hemp rope and fibers; cotton; steel; overall: 114.3 x 83.8 x 129.5 cm (45 x 33 x 51 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Phyllis Granoff 2016.544 © Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation Mrinalini Mukherjee's array of organic abstract forms evokes human and animal bodies as well as vegetation. Mostly made of knotted hemp fiber, a material and technique traditionally used by village women in rural India, this contemporary sculpture references the serpent deities that have been revered in southern Asia for thousands of years. Mrinalini Mukherjee often worked intuitively to create her hemp textile pieces, without sketches, models, or preparatory drawings.