On the origin of the existence of mermaids Painting

The painting is part of an ongoing series on magical speculation, mermaids and their possible forms of appearing and visual presence. Mermaids appear in various forms and with different powers/abilities in mythical literature and cross-cultural folklore. In this artwork I explore the idea of mermaids as depictions of supernatural presences that tend to appear with limited humane characteristics: they can be flying, floating, furry, spikey, mere translucid appeareances, almost shapeless and fluid in their surroundings. They can be ghosts, reflections of the watery environments, and can borrow multiple qualities from other life forms. They appear as mostly floating, as projections or weightless images. Most of the mermaids are inspired by personal dream images. The concept of magical speculation is a juxtaposition of concepts that derived from my interest in esoterism and mythical narratives and research into contemporary discourses upon it. It is an idea I explore as a core curiosity in my artwork, that aims to go beyond cultural narratives of the magical experience. The magical quality of something can come simply from the act of shaping something into existence. The painting is neofigurative, yet quite illustrative in its content: i aim to depict the wonderous and enchanted feeling of being for the first time in the presence of a mermaid being. What emotions would envade the body? The three dark humane figures appear to be deconstructing themselves to their skeleton while taking anonimosuly and undistinguishably the pose of the observer. The work is a medium-sized oil and acrylic on linen canvas, that comes mounted on a wooden frame and ready to be hanged. The colors are more vivid in reality, and the various brushstrokes create layers of energetical contrasts, as depicting a moment of collision with the aura of the magical.