To truly understand Seafaring Maiden, it’s best to experience it in Margareta Peršić’s own words:
„Seafaring maiden” is a collection of poetry-paintings, manually binded, candied with the scents of the Mediterranean.
Seafaring maiden speaks a language familiar to you
Her taste is specially adapted to a palate like yours
It is manually bound and wrapped with special care for you
It embraces the elusive: smell and wind
It hides a piece of breath and the brush with which it was composed
Awakens the heart and invites you on a journey
It invites you to create: to write, to paint your Enso circle
It takes you through all twelve senses
It does not leave you alone on the open sea
There are about 700 islands in Croatia, of which only about 40 are inhabited, and that number is decreasing. The poetry collection (or project) of Seafaring maiden pays attention to these abandoned paradises, connects Slavic mythology and its significance, traditional beliefs in modern life and shows the many faces of modern women and modern men in their loneliness and isolation, just like an island. Seafaring maiden evokes archetypes and relies on three primordial forms: square, circle and triangle. Painting with words, it conveys the beauty of the Adriatic island through poetry, which is known as the path of the heart, thereby establishing interactive communication between itself, the audience and the community. Seafaring maiden is the parkour of the heart, sailing with a brush through the conscious, subconscious and inherited, and an attempt to communicate with another being through art.
On this sailing with a brush, I call you to find simplicity, intimacy, understanding of natural processes and the beauty of imperfection.
While painting, I played with a palette of deep blue, bright red and warm yellow tones, caring more about the experience and less about the form. I wrote postcards from islands full of coves, playful children, ships, waves, fish and faceless women. Even when I set myself a frame in the shape of a circle, I let the characters and scenes come out of them, as well as the tears that only know how to flow from the frame.
„Seafaring maiden” is the first volume from a cycle of four themes:
Water, Fire, Air and Earth in which I invite you to travel through all four
elements. The element of Water is represented through Seafaring maiden. The ones that became owners of this book write a story/poem titled „What love is for you”, and I paint these stories in the fourth element - Earth, in the "work in progress" collection named „Herbarium of souls”. The element of Air is represented through a silent book „Word“ where I invited the audience to write a story based on my wordless illustrations. The element of Fire is represented through the yet unpublished novel „Silent Dictionary“ in which I transform my feelings to words, and words to ashes to give birth to the fifth element – Eather and this is where the story just beggins.
The project is part of the subthemes The Ecology of Language - Poetry and Environmental Action, Re-imagining identity through poetry, Healing Narratives - Poetry, Mental Health and Collective Trauma.
Author
Margareta Peršić
Margareta Peršić (b. 1976, Zagreb) is a multidisciplinary artist who explores storytelling through various forms, including doll-making, painting, illustration, poetry, and writing. Her works bring to life whimsical worlds where everyday moments and imagination intertwine. She is an active member of several art associations and embraces creative freedom—almost like a bird. Whether crafting tiny dresses for her handmade dolls, painting picture books, or weaving stories, she continues to navigate both the artistic and life’s ever-evolving lessons.
