The Night Visit

Year - 2025 · Size - 47 x 34 cm · Medium - Ink, acrylic and collage on paper

While staying near the surf beach in the non-touristy rural town of Pantai Jasri on Bali's east coast, I was introduced to a charismatic old expat who goes by the name of Emerald. With a twinkle in his eye, Emerald told me the story of Nyai Roro Kidul — the Queen of the Southern Sea. This deity, widely recognised throughout Balinese and Javanese culture, wore green and ruled the Indian Ocean, her beauty so mesmerising that it would lure men to their watery graves. The superstition holds that you should never wear a green swimsuit to the ocean, lest you tempt the goddess. Emerald believed the local rumours that sometimes, at night, she would come ashore for a visit to Pantai Jasri. This painting explores that story and was a gift for my zenthai shiatsu teacher Gwyn.