Amabie

A few weeks ago, I read an article about how artists were recreating a Japanese yokai in order to ward off the looming epidemic. I know that sentence sounds a little crazy, but hear me out.

The article explained that Amabie, a mythical creature in Japanese culture, would visit a town or village to warn them of an impending epidemic. Amabie is described as a mermaid with three legs, a beak, long hair and is covered in scales. Amabie tells the citizens of whatever village she visits that drawing her image will ward off the epidemic.

Naturally, word of a mythical creature who wards of epidemics when artists draw her image took the art world by storm and artists all over the globe responded with their own interpretations of Amabie. In fact, I posted the Amabie article to my social media and people responded to it with their own Amabies! Some of these works are by artist friends of mine, while others are by kids and by people who don’t consider themselves artists at all. I love how this seemingly silly exercise inspired so much creativity in so many people.

Here are two articles on Amabie, the first from Colossal…

Artists Respond to the Coronavirus Outbreak by Flooding Social Media with a Japanese Yokai Said to Ward Off Epidemics

The second article is from the Smithsonian Magazine…

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/artists-invoke-japanese-spirit-amabie-protector-against-disease-180974519/

Have a look at the Amabies that were sent to me. I’ll kick things off with my own interpretation…

Introducing… Harriet! She’s an Amabie who typically works in HR, but is making the rounds because of our current crisis. She’s known around the office for her amazing lemon squares & for saying things like, “Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays!”