On the 18th day of the lunar calendar, in a year marked by the serpent, a symbol of rebirth, mysticism, and elemental wisdom, the Lkham Gallery opened its 18th exhibition, a moment layered in meaning and quiet cosmic alignment. This convergence of numbers, symbols and spirit created the perfect vessel to introduce “Serpent Reverie – Realm of the Water Deity,” the first solo exhibition of emerging Mongolian artist A.Javkhlan.
This deeply personal and mythopoetic body of work invites viewers into a realm where time folds inward, where memory and spirit flow together like water across stone. Rooted in Mongolia’s ancestral relationship with the natural world, the exhibition reimagines the serpent not just as a motif, but as a vital, sentient force - an emissary between the earthly and the divine.
Mongolian spiritual tradition views nature as alive, sentient and sacred. For centuries, nomadic life has moved in rhythm with the land, guided by a cosmology in which every mountain is a god, every river a guardian, and every landscape a living presence. In this worldview, serpents, particularly water serpents or “lus”, hold immense spiritual power. They dwell in springs, lakes and rivers, acting as protectors of the environment and symbols of regeneration, fertility and balance.
In “Serpent Reverie”, A.Javkhlan reawakens this mythic consciousness through intricately layered compositions, where the fluid grace of serpentine forms moves through abstracted landscapes, ritual symbols, and dreamlike waterscapes. The palette shifts from deep mineral blues to earthen reds and golds, echoing the textures of the Mongolian steppe and the shimmer of sacred waters. Ethereal yet grounded, her brushwork evokes both movement and stillness, as if each painting is a moment suspended between breath and prayer.
This exhibition also becomes a meditation on a pressing duality, or the sacredness of nature versus the violent encroachments of modern industrialization. Mongolia today faces a profound environmental reckoning, as unchecked mining and development fracture ecosystems and threaten the spiritual memory of the land. Against this backdrop, A.Javkhlan’s work is both elegy and invocation - a call to remember, and to reimagine our place in the web of life.
The exhibition space itself has been transformed into a liminal environment. Entering the gallery, one is enveloped in a quiet reverence, like stepping into a shrine built from canvas and light. Here, time bends, and the viewer becomes part of the narrative, a witness to a sacred unfolding.
Opening this show under such symbolically charged conditions (their 18th exhibition, on the 18th day of the lunar cycle, in a serpent year, centered on serpent iconography) was more than coincidence. It felt divinely orchestrated, as if the spirits invoked by A.Javkhlan’s brush had chosen the moment themselves.
We invite you to walk gently into this realm before June 29. Allow yourself to listen, not just with the eyes, but with the heart, to the ancient echoes that ripple through each piece. In doing so, you may find the serpent not as something to fear, but as a guide through the dreamscape of collective memory, ancestral wisdom, and deep ecological truth.
