We have become accustomed to mermaids, the creatures of the sea. Then Cristina Brattig Almeida presents us with Mermaids and Sirens. With this series, we discover that duality — its motto — arose from a need to represent daily life in the course of the 2020 pandemics. Something like inhabiting a passage, living in between commas. Sirens and mermaids are representatives of the deadly Homeric duality, of being as a constant and a temporary state, of life and death, of joy and sorrow, of liberty and imprisonment, of yes and no.

Sirens came first, as has been seen in art and literature. They are mysterious creatures, like sphinxes, the ancient figures of duality who formulated questions to which there are no clear answers. The focus of their representation is on the head — they fly like silent and wary observers. The figure of the bird is the concept of duality itself, ground and air. Birds have an unrestrained desire for freedom, silence, individuality, experimentations. Colorful tones are mainly present in their faces: duality explicitly imprinted in color.  

It is said that mermaids result from the metamorphosis that sirens underwent in the Middle Ages. They are figures of seduction, of deceit, of moments between commas. The mermaids gained in size and volume, and got a mixture of materials that are representative of the duality of matter in equal measure: the bodies were modeled in clay, a fragile material, whereas the tails are made of iron, a resistant substance.

A sensibility to fire is a common element. And they are equal plates in the balance of duality: seduction and fire.

The figures were modeled with feminine and masculine elements: face, head and hands are feminine, as is the subtlety of seductive gestures, while their muscles and hips are masculine — strength is physically present. This series represents the artist’s daily life, earth, water and air, guided by metamorphosis, desire, fire, the duality and the mystery of seduction. The pandemic world is unveiled in this portrait: life across landscapes, a world in between commas, a world of duality.

 

Sandra Makowiecky

Professor of Art History and Criticism – UDESC