Jordan Vigil
Jordan Vigil is an undergraduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder in the BFA program, with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. Her work deals with concepts of gender, race, and class influenced by her Latina upbringing, first generation student status, and mental illness. Her work aims to capture important issues that go unsaid.
The symbol of the Ouroboros, or the snake encircling itself with its tail pointed towards its mouth, is untraceable to an original source due to its appearance in a wide range of cultures and eras. The symbol has many different interpretations ranging from the infinite cycle of life and death, history repeating itself, self sufficiency, and many others. The symbol itself has always interested me for reasons I didn’t understand. The snake and fruit create a hint of allusion to the Christian story, regarding good and evil.
I began using the apple half as a representation of my family, who owned an Apple Orchard. The organic shape of the apple is also meant to be sexually suggestive, a nod to the strong women I come from. The ouroboros, in the apple, is myself. Like the symbol, I too am untraceable to an original source. The serpent is representative of my evils. With mental illness thoughts seem unruly and outside of your control. I often feel like the snake chasing its tail; my head spins around itself like a constant battle of all things good and bad.
“Ouroboros in Fruit”
Screen print, 2020