Selkies are mythical creatures from Celtic and Norse folklore. They are magical seal-like creatures that can shed their skins and take human form. While researching selkies, I came across a theory that the myth was born from a time when dark haired, foreign refugees would be found washed up on Scottish shores after braving the northern seas to escape an even worse fate. The locals mistook these bodies as seal people and thus the myth was born.
I thought a lot about this theory and its relevance to the world we live in today. Still, persecuted people brave the wild sea in the hope of finding refuge. There is something deeply moving about this plight, and I am greatly saddened by dangerous rhetoric and demonisation of those that reach our shores in ‘small boats’.
I made my own Selkie with this in mind. There is a melancholic and reflective tone to her, expressing sorrow at being abandoned by fellow humans. So, the Selkie represents, not only an otherworldly being, but also ‘othered’ human beings, torn between two worlds, detached from their origins or homes.
The Selkie, a creature torn between two worlds – land and sea – serves as a metaphor for those who feel caught between identities, places or times. In folklore, Selkies are often portrayed as creatures who shed their skins to walk on land, forming bonds with humans, only to inevitably return to the sea, often leaving behind those they love.
At her core, the Selkie symbolises the fragility of connection and the pain of separation. The sculpture’s chest, filled with remnants of pottery and glass from the Wirral coastline, representing her origins and experiences, even while existing in a different realm. Indeed, we all carry fragments of our pasts within us, even as we strive to move forward and adapt to new environments. The Selkie sees humanity’s vulnerability, the way people must sometimes entrust their lives and their loved ones to unpredictable forces beyond their control.
As a being of the sea, the Selkie also represents nature itself – mysterious and beautiful, but also vulnerable to human exploitation. Selkie calls us to recognise the interconnectedness of all things, for the way we treat the world and others reflects back on us. The Selkie’s timeless melancholy serves as a mirror to the human experience: an ongoing struggle to find belonging, love and understanding in a world that can seem indifferent.
