Thalassa is the Greek word for ocean, a primordial incarnation of the sea that is not often personified. She is said to have given birth to all the tribes of fish in the sea, she is the pull of the sea that comes from inside the salt water in our blood. By means of her signature technique of intricate paper cut-outs and portraiture, Swoon explores the relationship between humanity and nature, highlighting the importance of ecological balance and the power of feminine symbolism in environmental narratives.
“Thalassa was originally created for New Orleans. It was a month after the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf in 2010, and this body of water that I’d loved since I was a child was in peril. As I drew Thalassa surging up from the water, I felt her again like a wake- up call, one reminds us of our inseparability from the sea. When I stand in front of the ocean, the word that always appears first in my mind is mother. For me there is no mistaking the sense that the sea is our first mother.” -Swoon