Sunken Living Room:
An experiment in magical marine set design
Sunken Living Room:
An experiment in magical marine set design
One day I awoke with a vision for a mermaid photoshoot. I wanted to spin a visual story of the adolescent journey of individuation and self discovery acompanied by a poem, told through through the littoral lens of a magical marine creature who materialized on the mundane mainland. A true tale of a true fish out of water, it would share the struggles to adapt to life on land and ultimately let go of these land-locked limitations to create a luxurious lagoon.
In similar fashion, I saw the sublime beyond the superficial setbacks and decided to create an under the sea set in my small city space; a sunken living room in the city of fair winds. As with the imperceptible blossoming of my apartment, I began to see the barriers in space and resources as catalysts for creativity and curiosity.
As I put the set together, I found my apartment was awash with an array of aquas, algae, and shades of blue, green, and seafoam. My own grotto was already gilded with a gazillion glittering baubles, bubbles, and bibelots. I was already living a mermaid life.
To this day, the swirling seas of creativity have not yet buoyed me to finish the photo series or the poem. Instead, the true mer magic has been the mesmerizing metamorphosis into the mythical misfit mermaid I have always been. What follows is a small sample of the poem and some stills from the set. I hope they inspire you to bring the splendor of the sea to your sandy shores.
***
Once upon a time there was a magical, mesmerizing mermaid
He was sweet, sensitive, and shy
He was also gentle, graceful, and gregarious
He loved to feel the flow of the ocean that moved through everything in his magical marine metropolis
He loved let the current carry him to caves unknown full of fanciful foreign fantasies
He loved to twirl with the tilting tide of the swirling sea
He loved to ride the raucous riptides from ripple to ripple
He loved to lift up and chant with the chorus of kelp
He loved to listen at length to the stories the shells would share
He loved to commune with the coral commune
He loved to soak in the sunlight on the sea’s sparkling surface
He was tied to no one place or peoples
He was always an outsider, a wayside wanderer,
And yet he was welcome wherever he went.
He was forever foreign yet familiar;
Unusual and unique yet universal.
Sometimes he wished he could seamlessly assimilate
Like a school of fish swimming in subconscious unison
But mostly he loved the eternally ephemeral ebbs and flows
That filled his life with forever fleeting and fluid fanfare and fun!
One day I awoke with a vision for a mermaid photoshoot. I wanted to spin a visual story of the adolescent journey of individuation and self discovery acompanied by a poem, told through through the littoral lens of a magical marine creature who materialized on the mundane mainland. A true tale of a true fish out of water, it would share the struggles to adapt to life on land and ultimately let go of these land-locked limitations to create a luxurious lagoon.
In similar fashion, I saw the sublime beyond the superficial setbacks and decided to create an under the sea set in my small city space; a sunken living room in the city of fair winds. As with the imperceptible blossoming of my apartment, I began to see the barriers in space and resources as catalysts for creativity and curiosity.
As I put the set together, I found my apartment was awash with an array of aquas, algae, and shades of blue, green, and seafoam. My own grotto was already gilded with a gazillion glittering baubles, bubbles, and bibelots. I was already living a mermaid life.
To this day, the swirling seas of creativity have not yet buoyed me to finish the photo series or the poem. Instead, the true mer magic has been the mesmerizing metamorphosis into the mythical misfit mermaid I have always been. What follows is a small sample of the poem and some stills from the set. I hope they inspire you to bring the splendor of the sea to your sandy shores.
***
Once upon a time there was a magical, mesmerizing mermaid
He was sweet, sensitive, and shy
He was also gentle, graceful, and gregarious
He loved to feel the flow of the ocean that moved through everything in his magical marine metropolis
He loved let the current carry him to caves unknown full of fanciful foreign fantasies
He loved to twirl with the tilting tide of the swirling sea
He loved to ride the raucous riptides from ripple to ripple
He loved to lift up and chant with the chorus of kelp
He loved to listen at length to the stories the shells would share
He loved to commune with the coral commune
He loved to soak in the sunlight on the sea’s sparkling surface
He was tied to no one place or peoples
He was always an outsider, a wayside wanderer,
And yet he was welcome wherever he went.
He was forever foreign yet familiar;
Unusual and unique yet universal.
Sometimes he wished he could seamlessly assimilate
Like a school of fish swimming in subconscious unison
But mostly he loved the eternally ephemeral ebbs and flows
That filled his life with forever fleeting and fluid fanfare and fun!