From 12 September, Galerie Fleur & Wouter will be exhibiting the installation Underwater Aftermath by Fiona Lutjenhuis (Zevenaar, NL, 1991). The artist took the myth of Atlantis as her starting point. She depicts a sunken world in which personal stories, Dutch and Flemish folklore, pseudoscience and self-invented mythology converge.

The artist grew up within a sect, where fantastical tales about the creation of the world were presented as truth. She soon learnt that our perception of reality is often shaped by the stories we are told. After leaving this environment, she made these stories the foundation of her artistic practice.

Her family told the story of Atlantis differently from the philosopher Plato (c. 360 BC). According to them, Atlantis was a highly advanced civilisation. Its inhabitants could transform their bodies, live underwater and existed beyond the boundaries of gender. The downfall began when men and women were separated. This separation gave rise to the ego, domination and a sense of incompleteness, until Atlantis eventually sank.

In the gallery, this myth becomes a tangible underwater world. Murals, drawings, textiles, light, aquariums and sculptures create an environment in which fantasy and memory intertwine. Rainbow patterns move through the water like rays of light, whilst imaginary Atlantean creatures float in the water. Painted abacuses refer to the universal language of mathematics and to an imaginary past in which Atlantis, too, was familiar with these objects. Textile frames depict patterns and movements of sound underwater.

Lutjenhuis attaches great importance to collaboration; for this exhibition, she worked closely with Ragna Lutjenhuis on the textile works and with Jerry Celie and Iede Reckman on the wooden sculptures. The installation also features sketches by artists she admires, displayed on a wooden console. Here, the sketch is seen as a vision of the future: the very beginning of an idea and a glimpse of a possible alternative world, just like the myth of Atlantis.

The exhibition explores how stories shape our reality and how myths can help us to reimagine the future. In a time of climate crisis and global unrest, connectedness and the capacity for transformation take centre stage: perhaps it is precisely these qualities that are needed for our continued existence.

During the exhibition, the artist will present an installation on the same theme at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, at the invitation of art space 1646, and at the Artissima art fair in Turin with Galerie Fleur & Wouter.