(2:18 minutes), 2020
watercolour on paper and digital animation

During this year of the global pandemic the Japanese legend of the yokai Amabie—a mermaid-like creature with 3 legs, submerged deep in the unconscious of the “sea”—began to re-surface again as a story that could be told and revisited in a new light. The Amabie emerged from the ocean and was made visible so that she could speak prophecies of abundance or epidemic and left specific instructions to heal disease. I grew up listening to similar stories and legends, but not this one. I asked my 78 year old mother who I share a lived space with during this time, to retell and narrate the story in her own words.

This short film was created as part of In Response for the Contemporary Art Gallery's programming. In Response invites artists from CAG's past, present and forthcoming programming to reflect on the current moment and was a weekly programming initiative online sharing an artist's observation on how circumstances of a global pandemic reveal themselves in their life and work.

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Editing: Candelario Andrade
Sound: Antoine Bédard
Voice: Cindy Mochizuki and Tazuko Mochizuki
Animation Assistance: Cherry Wen Wen Lu