Sirena

Here's a sampling of my Sirena collection. In Philippine folklore, a Sirena is what is also known as a mermaid, which is definitely no stranger to a country made up of more than 7,000 islands.

Since childhood, mermaids have always fascinated me. I've been obsessed with them pre-Disney. I loved reading Hans Christian Andersen's story and begged my parents to rent the Toei Animation version on Beta over and over again-- even if she did kill herself in the end.

I also had a strong aversion towards seafood because I would feel for guilty eating a mermaid's friends. Understand that second to rice, refusing to eat seafood is considered taboo if you come from a Filipino family. But it was always strange to me how vegetarians ate fish. Fish are people, too, I always thought.

There is a vendor in the central region of the Philippines who makes these jaw-droppingly gorgeous Mother of Pearl pendants. Fishermen catch the shells, the meat is consumed, and the shell which is usually tossed aside (either on the side of the road, back into the ocean or into a garbage dump) gets cleaned out, carved, polished and painted.

I emphasized the beauty of these pendants with beads and semi-precious stones. I like to think of it as wearing a little piece of ocean. A mermaid's wish comes true and she gets to dance on land by living vicariously through her friends who were kidnapped, sold, and consumed.

A small sacrifice in the name of fashion... rather, wearable art.

Left to Right: Hand Painted Philippine Mother of Pearl Pendant with Jade beads; Hand Carved Butterfly Mother of Pearl Pendant with cloisonne beads, Chinese freshwater blue pearls, Czech beads and cultured Chinese freshwater pearls; Hand Painted Philippine Mother of Pearl Pendant with Brazilian Amethyst Beads and Czech Glass Leaf Beads; Hand Painted Philippine Mother of Pearl Pendant with Wood and Acrylic Beads.