Magical Sea Creatures. Where do they live?
During the hot summer of 2023, Magical Sea Creatures visited the museum-house of Latvian poetess Aspasia in Jūrmala, honoured to participate in MARINA biennale 2023. These works are inspired by her romantic and passionate sea poetry. The ambiance and hospitality in the museum was inoubliable, I insist everyone should visit Aspasia's house and stare at her mirror. Thank you, Signe and Dace!
Most of the photos from the vernissage are by Arts Veigurs.
The mystery and power of witches and other magical water creatures is timeless. Now is an auspicious time to be a witch in the sea, air and land. There are various witch clubs and societies, there is a renaissance of witches and they have a proud self-confidence. Everyone can also do witchcraft quietly in the comfort of a sea castle or a room. I try to see the Sea Witch as a living and powerful archetype, the progenitor of all seas, the origin around which smaller water spirits and creatures of wonder revolve. I can also see poetess Aspasia, creative and powerful, gentle and graceful, as she lives in her poet's paradise even today. These images merged into one, and were joined by a third, the Sea Amazon, the mighty warrior, defender of the small and innocent, thus creating a trinity. The Sea Witch is wise, old, omniscient like a natural element. We humans think about age as an obstacle. I was afraid that the old Sea Witch with one eye and wrinkles on her forehead might feel invisible and nostalgic for the days of her youth, so I painted her in the past, beautiful and desired by all the sea gods. The raging Amazon of the Sea was born on the night of the explosion of the Kahovka HPP , transforming from a poetic figure into a guardian of the planet, a destructive warrior. Many personalities coexist in the Sea Witch and together they form a multi-functional pantheon of deities. The wondrous being in the depths of the sea owns many riches, and countless creatures serve her and fulfill her every wish. I managed to fish a few items out of the water, such as the Witch's underwear locker, which got tangled in the anchor chains, then got caught in an unexpected undercurrent and washed ashore along with many small water helpers and maids, who are safely trapped in cages and will be brought back home to the depths of the ocean after the exhibition is over. No magical creatures were harmed in the making of the exhibition.
