The MErmaids

For this series I was inspired by a poem called “Diving Into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich (1973). In the poem the wreck they describe is more than just a shipwreck but an emotion and connection to the past. I found this idea fascinating and decided to play with the imagery that came to mind while reading this poem. In the drawings I dressed the mermaids in a combination of diving gear and armor to exemplify the imagery the poem gave of preparing ones self to visit the past. However, each mermaid is missing their arms to show that these mermaids (our pasts) cannot climb back up the ladder to meet us. But we in turn can climb down a rope or a ladder, to revisit our past though it may be difficult, but our past (the mermaids) can’t physically climb back up to visit us.