The Plumed Serpent

“The Plumed Serpent” was born on July 25th, 1985 in Denver, Colorado. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at Ringling College of Art and Design in 2009. Her parents knew she would be unique, the moment she picked up a fork with her left hand. From then on, she started taking art classes and participating in young tournaments. At the age of seven-teen, her life transformed curiously after she encountered this messianic subconscious dream. An awakening that allowed her to believe things in the world will slowly gravitate into a surprising spiritual progression. Her real name is Elizabeth Marie Santiago Berken. Originally, Elizabeth was planning on attending fashion school in New York until; she encountered that dream that altered her perception. Even though she studied fine art, she also considers herself a fashionable lady. She craves for learning new things and educating herself with books. She sees space and time as a parallel universe. She calls herself “The Plumed Serpent” because it means the re-birth dragon. The myth of Quetzalcoatl was a Aztec Prince who taught peace to its people. The prince promised to return in the form of another. She also relates herself to Genesis in the Retort because of a vision she had of a dragon and, a dream of a boy inside a dragon’s mouth. She even considers Lilith Adam’s first wife, a feminine archetype that she looks up to. Elizabeth had a dream where she was floating and below her were Adam and Eve following her. The artist’s inspiration comes from different elements to: books, clothing, dreams, family, found objects, movies, mythology, music, philosophy, science, religion. She believes her work is aesthetic and gives an optimistic, yet dark point of view. She comes from a Catholic/Jewish background, which gives her a new insightful theory on the figure of Jesus Christ. She was given the opportunity to live and study art for a semester at the Pont Aven School of Contemporary Art in France the year of 2008. Her two pieces that were most memorable were a short made video called “A New Version of God” and shaving her own head experiment called “Ces’t Moi” (This is me). After returning to the states, she met professor Kevin Costello. They quickly became friends and a personal art mentor of hers. He later wrote a news article about her work in the Sarasota Herald Tribune 2008, “Artist Focuses on Nature” which is displayed as her first published piece. From the time she lived in Sarasota, Florida she worked as a live figure model at the Adult and Community Education Department Center of Sarasota. She also got her first experience working in Paradise Gallery and as a personal assistant for artist, Peter Paul. After graduating at Ringling she moved to California where she currently lives and works. She will forever continue her passion for the arts and plans on participating in art festivals as much as she can.