| Title | The Mermaid's Dream |
| Artist / Creator | Celeste Maia |
| Artist's Nationality | Portugal |
| Place of Publication | Madrid, Spain |
| Publication Date | 2016 |
| Process / Technique | Calligraphy text and oil painted images on handmade Moinho da Chuva Mill paper, digitally scanned |
| Structure / Binding | Seven panel tunnel book containing a magnetically triggered LED light inside a half clam shell box, with accordion book in its hinged double lid. Book cloth, machine sewn, with hot foil hand-stamped lettering |
| Paper Stock | Lokta and recycled acid free papers |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 9.44 x 9.84 x 1.3 inches closed. |
| Edition Size | Edition of 10 |
| Box / Wrapper | Half clam-shell box |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
The Mermaid's Dream is inspired by Borges's idea of circular time and duality, man as dream and dreamer. It recreates the mystery and magic I experienced at a beach party in 1974, celebrating Portugal's revolution. Sometimes an event happens that defies everything we know. Over time we even doubt our memory. But it haunts us. I painted the girl as I remember her, sleeping by the sea in the silvery night. But then she disappeared—into the waves? Did I dream the girl dreaming she is a mermaid? Or is the mermaid dreaming she is the girl at the beach party who later makes an artist book? Meanwhile, the mermaid vanishes down her own illuminated blue path into another dream.
Artist Bio
Celeste Maia painted for many years, moving between the US and Europe. Her works are in a number of international collections. In parallel, she wrote and illustrated bilingual children' s books, winning Portugal's top prize, Ler Mais, in 2006. Relying upon her experience as a painter, illustrator, writer and calligrapher, Maia's artist books reflect her eclectic background in materials and subject matter. Her book, "Resistance", commemorating the survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, won a prize in 2015 in Spain's top artist book show, Mas Que Libros. Celeste Maia curated the international book art show, CIBA 2015, in Cascais, Portugal. Maia publishes her artist books under her Serpens Caput imprint. A native of Mozambique, she has lived in many countries and now resides in Madrid, Spain.