For artists to create good art, they need to experience the world and draw inspiration from lived experiences. Liisa Addi has a deep love for the underwater world and often travels to Dahab, Egypt, to train in freediving. She’s so committed to the sport that she has brought home three national records in the depth disciplines.
As someone with autism and ADHD, this hobby has been one of the most valuable discoveries of her life. The world can be overwhelmingly stimulating, but diving underwater and holding her breath offers some of the most calming moments in her daily life.
Liisa feels a deep sense of recognition in the underwater world: primarily because of how diverse and vibrant it is. The ocean and sea offer direct contact with nature: colorful corals, fish, and marine mammals. When she’s underwater, it feels as if the world pauses, and suddenly, being “different” feels completely normal.
Underwater, all creatures are so unique, yet all essential to a shared ecosystem. Stressing just one species affects the entire balance. This serves as a metaphor for human relationships: different kinds of people are all necessary. Diverse perspectives, skills, and talents are valuable. When one group of people is marginalized or destroyed, everyone ultimately suffers the consequences.
This brings us to a very special community in Dahab: a group of freedivers who support each other with knowledge, talent, and inspiration. Freediving brings together people from many different fields, and many of them are creatives who draw deep inspiration from the underwater world.
From this, the group exhibition “Those, Who Chose the Sea” was born. The exhibition name came from the short-movie created by Jack Lawes and Tatiana Mendes, which they presented the very first time at this exhibition. The event brought together a wide range of artists who showcased their work and shared their stories through various media.
Liisa Addi’s pieces in the exhibition are inspired by her profound connection to the sea. The underwater world feels like outer space, and its inhabitants like aliens. Liisa, like many neurodivergent individuals, often feels like an alien on this planet. But underwater, that feeling transforms into a sense of cosmic recognition.
Her works are inspired by tattoo designs, a medium that empowers people to reclaim their identity and embrace their differences as something meaningful and personal.
“Those, Who Chose the Sea” became a powerful collaboration between artists and the local community. The people of Dahab left the exhibition full of inspiration and new ideas on how to better support each other in this field: and how to care more deeply for the cosmic world beneath the waves.
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