Amid the research for her art history master thesis on Land Art and playing with the coincidence and layering of disciplines ever present in her work, Liselore Frowijn was commissioned by the Gemeente Utrecht and developed a sculpture piece of a native barred grass snake that inhabits Utrecht waters, the Natrix Helvetica, which now lives in the St. Bonifatius College schoolyard: Kunst In Openbare Ruimte.

The snake is a recurring motif in Boni’s art curriculum and refers to the story of Saint Bonifatius. We created this fragmented version with different artisans as tree-chunked follies to connect with our more-than-human nature while sitting on or playing around with its colourful camouflage candies.

With artist Ignas van Rijckevorsel, we have been playing with digital materials to bring the snake to a virtual dreamscape where its roots grow out of dark waters, and the renovated school becomes a vegetated cathedral, where the grass snake can dance and connect with the next generation.

Discover the piece here.

We would like to credit our partners and friends for helping us realize this project:

Video by Ignas van Rijckevorsel
Based on the sculpture Natrix Helvetica MMXXII by Studio Frowijn
Sound by Andres Garcia Vidal
Sculpture produced by Pascal Harting & Ronny van Schijndel – Blowups NL
Sculpture 3D design by François Dumas
3D scanning & extra Assets by Ignas van Rijckevorsel
Consultancy by Marcelo Horacio Maquieira

Liselore Frowijn would like to thank:

Esther Vonk & Rogier Martens – Gemeente Utrecht,
Rector Hanneke Schreuder – Sint Bonifatiuscollege, Utrecht
Beau Bertens – Graphic Design
Karime Salame Sainz – Copywriter

Ignas van Rijckevorsel would like to thank:

Emile Weisz
Ank Verrips
Koen Oosterbroek
Suri 5th Floor

Photography by Gert Jan de Rooij