7 – SIEBEN – SEVEN – 七

Hidden Mermaids

Sojo Gallery, Kumamoto, 04.07.2023 – 16.07.2023

Water – H2O – is a molecule that knows no boundaries. Water molecules are the true world travellers; each one has been in every living creature, in every cloud, in all the oceans.

Many cultures know magical water beings – possibly magic has travelled around the world with the water molecules. There are seven interconnected oceans, seven days of the week, every seven years the human body is renewed – seven is considered a magic number in many cultures.

Water spirits are nature demons who, according to popular belief, live in lakes,
ponds, ponds, rivers and wells. They have different names in the individual
landscapes, just as the spread of legends about water spirits is not uniform. […]
The most common name, however, is Wassermann (water sprite), somewhat less
common, but generally known, is the name „Nix“, which is especially common in
its female form „Nixe“. […] In popular belief, the water sprites have a family and
their dwelling is set up under the water like that of the humans. Their daughters
go shopping with the people and take part in their pleasures, and they can only be
recognised by the fact that their dress has a wet hem.

From: Leander Petzold, Kleines Lexikon der Dämonen und Elementargeister, Munich 1990.

What if – the water spirits of the different cultures do not adhere to borders any more than the water molecules do, and are in contact with each other, visit each other, perhaps even cultivate friendships?

Clara Luise Bernhard spins this thought further in her works.

Hidden Mermaids walk through the cityand leave wet footprints. Photographs of water from Japan mix with sounds of water from Germany.
A young woman with blonde hair and a western look stands in a puddle at a Japanese market. The image of an amabie has been spray-painted on the closed roller shutter of a market stall.