Snakes & Ladders by Teddy Hansen

How the game of snakes and ladders was invented:

A banana farmer has gone up his ladder to fetch some nanas. As he grabs what he thinks is a nice yellow banana, he realises it’s the tail of a yellow Burmese python. In fear, he falls off the ladder. The painting shows the vessel used to collect bananas with the python hanging out of it.

Along the middle band, you see the timeline for the farmer.
• On the left is the “past” version of him, depicted with two bananas.
• In the middle is “current” him with two snakes.
• On the right is the “future” him with two dice as he takes his story to invent the game snakes and ladders.

Mixed media on canvas.

96H x 76W cm

2025