Justine Mcallister

About

Painted by
Paint year
2022

“I always used to draw mermaids when we went to the coast as a family. It must have been the rare change of scenery that sparked the need to draw them on repeat. The notion of the mermaid has been a subject of fascination and story telling for centuries and in many cultures. Depictions of them appeared in Greek and Roman mythology, Indian, Asian and Scandinavian folklore and also took form as a ‘Yawkyawk’ which was a word from the Kuninjku-Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land. The design depicted shows a contemplative mermaid in the water in front of a vibrant and abstracted tropical coastal landscape. The bold and gestural white lines are an aesthetic prevalent in my work and suggest that the piece is created by hand.”