MODERNE CENTRICS
The mermaid
How do you spot a modern mermaid? There’s the tail, of course, and – in the case of Laura Evans, St Ives’ resident mermaid – there’s also her turquoise eyebrows and playful smile. And it’s also something of a mindset. “You know how some people feel they missed their Hogwarts letter?” she says. “Well, I feel like that; somehow I didn’t get a tail when I was young, but I believed I was a mermaid nonetheless!”
Sitting in the evening sun at her favourite swim spot, dangling her feet in the clear water of the tidal pool and sipping tea, that doesn’t seem out of the question.
Laura blossomed into the mermaid she was always meant to be when she returned to St Ives in her mid
20s after an anxious few years in London. “I wasn’t well when I got home. I felt like St Ives and the sea welcomed me back, nurtured me and helped me to recover. Being underwater connected me with the person I was when I was a child.”
Laura became an avid sea swimmer and then, while paddle boarding in St Ives harbour – yes, in that light that’s inspired countless artists, and in that milky aqua water – she imagined how wonderful it would be for a mermaid to swim by.
It was more than a passing whim and she’d soon bought a tail; two stones of silicone with a custom green and purple iridescent paint job. Laura got hers from the States but now, due to the growing popularity of mermaiding ( yes, it’s a verb), you can buy basic fabric tails in the UK for around £60. Swimming like a mermaid is something of a new skill, too, the tail is heavy but provides forceful propulsion through water. Laura explains how she does it: “All the power comes from the fin. I swim in a dolphin motion with my arms by my sides, as that’s how I feel a mermaid would swim.
The silicone is skintight so I need to use lube to get it on,” she laughs. “And then I have to bum shuffle or roll until I can plop into the water!”
ALL WASHED UP
Laura has been washing up on Porthminster beach for three years. Porthminster is safe and lifeguarded, and there’s a handy cove nearby where she can ‘transform’. In true superhero style, the transformation is key; the kids can’t see her change so she needs to be able to swim into and back out of the bay. “I want to offer an authentic experience. Some children believe 100% that I’m real, and some know it’s not real but wonder if maybe they could do the same. That’s why I like to be relatable; I don’t go in for loads of makeup and I like to be natural.”
That’s not the only adaptation that she makes for public appearances. “In my mind, mermaids don’t wear bras but when I’m having to be child friendly, even I will put a top on!” she says.
So how do you channel your inner mermaid for such appearances? Perhaps we should call Laura by her »
mermaid name to find out. “My character is me,” she explains. “I’m a firm believer, in every walk of life, in being authentic so I never wanted to come up with a mersona (a mermaid persona). However, ‘Laura’ didn’t seem right, so I named myself after St Ia, the patron saint of St Ives.”
When the tide times, the weather forecast and day-job commitments align, Ia announces on her social media when and where she will wash up. Over the past three years, the crowds at her appearances have gotten bigger and bigger and now she needs volunteers to help with crowd control.
People are desperate for photos with Ia on the beach and many want to quiz her on the ins and outs of mermaid life: How do you wee? (She releases an iridescent cloud that is full of nutrients for seaweed.) What do you eat? (Although she eats a seaweed-based diet, she does, ahem, love chips… just saying, in case you’re passing.) “I have a maximum of about an hour on the beach before I start to get cold so it’s about getting through everyone before I need to swim off again.” But she undoubtedly relishes the experience: “I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t act, so I had to find my own creative way. Becoming the St Ives Mermaid was a way of me becoming a performer.”
Laura’s in the sea every day come rain or shine, however it’s not always in her tail. “I’m experienced in what happens to the body when you get in cold water, but it’s still hard sometimes; I certainly don’t walk in like some Trojan! If you can get in water that is 5°C, it makes you feel like a superhero – and everyone needs that at some point,” Laura says.
You’ve only got to Google the phrase ‘mermaid school UK’ to see how popular mermaiding is; there are plenty of mermaid schools and exercise classes on offer. “It connects people with a bit of magic and encourages them to step outside their comfort zone,” Laura ponders. “I love encouraging people to start that journey and accept that unique is good, whether it’s personality, bodies or sexuality. I love nothing more than seeing someone be 100% authentically themselves.”
Follow the St Ives Mermaid on Insta: @StIvesMermaid. You can also find out more about Laura’s work at: stives-mermaid.co.uk.
IN MY MIND, MERMAIDS DON’T WEAR BRAS CHILD BUT WHEN I’M HAVING TO BE FRIENDLY EVEN I WILL PUT A TOP ON