Andrea du Chatenier - I am a Mermaid

Andrea’s new exhibition is principally a consideration of the potential and vast possibilities of clay as a material. Du Chatenier’s curiously abstracted forms and dripping structures are at once both archaic and futuristic – and move between the organic and artificial.

There is an irresistible playfulness and seductive tactility to Andrea’s forms and surfaces – iridescent glazes and lustre sheens dress these beautiful constructions, interacting with the shifting light and position of the viewer.

To introduce this exhibition Andrea has chosen a recent poem titled I am a mermaid by Jay Nieuwland.

____

Welcome to my humble home.
Let me give you the grand tour.

If you could please remove your shoes
before you enter.

As you can see, we’ve had the floor done
In premium high-grain
sand.

It was imported from the Sahara Desert
And raked into that amaaazing spiral pattern
by a Buddhist monk.

We get beeeautiful light down here.
In case you didn’t notice
the entire ceiling is stained glass skylight.

It really is a fantastic location.
There are so many good schools in the area
and Atlantis is just a fifteen minute swim away.

I know you might be worried about the damp
but it’s nothing that a good quality dehumidifier can’t take care of.

We have three bedrooms
a walk-in wardrobe,
a restaurant quality kitchen,
home office,
and the bathroom is wherever
you are when you need to go.
Matter of fact
I’m peeing right now.
But enough about the property.
I’m sure you want to know a bit about
the person you’re buying it from.

You might be surprised to learn
that unlike most mermaids
I’m not half human half fish.
My mother was a dolphin
and my father was a centaur
and my father’s mother an angel
and my father’s father was a unicorn

I’ve been doing my family history recently.
I just find it sooo fascinating.
I don’t have a drop of human blood in my veins!
What a relief!
People don’t take too kindly to humans down here.

Now, what did you say your background was again?”