#06: La Sirena (The Mermaid) 2008

Marina Pallares made this linocut print called '#06: La Sirena (The Mermaid)' and it's like a little world carved into black and white. Imagine Pallares pressing the linoleum, clearing away what isn't the mermaid and her wild surroundings, and leaving behind this stark image. The mermaid is holding palm leaves, maybe a fan, surrounded by a sea of bottles and bursting flora. I wonder if she was thinking about parties, or maybe the detritus of celebration washing up on the shore. Look at those little starbursts, how they contrast with the roundness of the bottles and the rippling water! The mermaid herself seems a little lost, a bit sad. Printmaking is like a conversation across time. Pallares is talking to Dürer and all the other printmakers who came before, but she’s also adding her own voice, her own twist, her own party by the sea. It's about embracing the unexpected, the happy accidents that happen when you're carving away at an idea, revealing something new.