After connecting during Miami Art Week, we sat down with Canadian mermaid, entrepreneur, musician, and performer Sia Shells. She shares her perspective on embracing her whimsical side and delves into what she has coming down the pipe. Explore the rest of this talented artist in the conversation and video below.
remx: So excited to have you. We have basically a real life mermaid here with us today: Sia Shells. Super stoked to have you and to interview with remx mag. Tell us a little bit more about your background as an artist and your story of becoming Sia Shells.
Sia Shells:Oh my gosh. Yeah, so basically it’s something I actually was always interested in ever since I was a little kid — a little guppy. It’s just something I’ve always been drawn to and I found it really interesting because it was almost like a form of escapism from my real world life problems. I was really bullied when I was a kid and I feel like that was a way to just escape to another world which is why I’m so interested in the metaverse and all the stuff it has to offer because I feel like it is another escape. Another way to step away from reality and just check into a new reality where you can own it and start over. Just be whoever you want to be in an open, inclusive space. So yeah, I guess it really just escalated from there into me incorporating that into social media. When social media came out, it was definitely something I just started building on more and more. And then when swimmable Mermaid tails came around and became a thing, I decided to invest in one and I’ve never looked back ever since. It’s been just an incredible journey so far. And yeah, I don’t see myself growing out of it anytime soon. People like to ask me that question, but it’s definitely a lifestyle thing.
remx: So amazing. Do you think that you’ll end up hopefully finding some way to incorporate that into the metaverse?
Sia Shells: Yeah, definitely. So that is another step in my journey that I’m looking into. I am exploring the option of wearables and having bows as a customized version you can wear on your avatar when you enter the metaverse. There’s another option I’m considering as NFTs that you can actually display and frame. And I definitely, regardless of which option or if I even do both, I’m going to make sure that some of the proceeds go back. Even with my company, Sea Bae, which does reusable makeup wipes that give back to ocean conservation efforts through helping marine life, like endangered sea turtles. So I wanna keep that going. I think that’s always been my number one. Definitely giving back through different avenues and different creative avenues and also people having fun with it.
remx: I absolutely love that. I didn’t know that about your company. I would love to hear a little bit more about what you’re doing with that.
Sia Shells: For sure. Yeah, so I designed these reusable makeup wipes and I branded them under this company called Sea Bae. And Sea Bae is really much about just everyday mermaids, kind of finding alternatives that are more eco-friendly to help reduce plastic pollution in the ocean, which is obviously a big problem and it continues to be a problem.
As a content creator and someone who’s in front of the camera a lot I found myself going through a lot of disposable makeup wipes and then when I did some research into it, I found out they were really bad for the environment and actually the worst for sea turtles because they actually ingest them and asphyxiate because they think it’s jellyfish; they think it’s food. So, really terrible stuff. And obviously there’s chemicals in them and not the best thing to put on your face. So I really took a lot of time to think of a product that would be sustainable, that would give back, that would make a difference, but also be super easy to use so people could ditch the disposable option. And since then, Sea Bae launched around three years ago at the height of the pandemic.
Sia Shells: So it’s definitely been a really interesting journey. But people seem to really like them and they’re in these really cute seashell shapes so people can use them.nThey’re made of raw hemp material, which is a sustainable plant. So it’s just all the good stuff. So I ticked all the boxes and they’re blue.
remx: Oh cute. Cause it’s you. Yes, I love that so much. That’s so cool. I had no idea. So to learn more about that, that’s really amazing. Such a great initiative too. We kind of touched on the metaverse aspect, but a lot of people are using avatars to embody their idealistic selves. So they would have a mermaid avatar and never explore that IRL, but how do you juggle the incorporation into the real world?
Sia Shells: Oh my gosh, yeah, that’s definitely because obviously when I’m in my mermaid tailI can’t really walk, so that’s not a very practical thing to do. So what I’ve started doing actually is incorporating elements of the mermaid life into my everyday wear that is more casual. So I mean obviously blue is a big one for me because I, it’s just the color that I really resonate with. I’ve had my hair blue for seven plus years. Yeah, it’s just a color coordination pattern that I’ve never broken out of and that I quite enjoy. So for me it’s very much about just finding elements of that whimsy, fantasy life and integrating that in your everyday life. So I’ll wear some seashell earrings or some seas, shell hair clips or some mermaid leggings or just mermaid pattern stuff, mermaid purses. And that way you can tell that I am still about that life, but I am also trading my fins for legs for the day and just going in the real world that way. Yeah I think that’s just the style I started building on and apparently now it’s a thing that people do, even for fairy stuff, people will do fairy core or cottage core where they very much just have elements of that style and incorporate it into their everyday wardrobe and it makes it more fun and interesting.
remx: Really cool. I would love to see some of the things like that you would build in the metaverse too, cuz I haven’t really seen anybody jump into that kind of theme I would say. So I would love to know what are some ideas that you think that maybe you would be interested in creating?
Sia Shells: Yeah, I think for sure Mermaid, that is definitely something. And there’s so many options with that because there’s so many different aesthetics and people there. There’s darker sirens with people, more gothy kind of clothing or darker colors, muted colors. And then there’s pastel really fun rainbow stuff, which I’m more personally attracted to or just really beautiful jewel tones. There’s just so many options you can do. So I feel like that as a customizable option would be really cool in itself to just explore all the different aesthetics for that. I’ve seen so many different memory tales over the years that I’m just like, whoa, there’s people that make them look like Sharkfins or fish. Yeah, it’s crazy. There’s patterns on them. It’s just insane. Even the tail I have here is totally customizable. I worked with the designer to build all this out and it’s like, wow.
Here. All of this is silicone. So yeah, it’s just this rainbow dream that I’ve been working on with the artist and the designer. So I wanna do that process in the metaverse so people can have more accessibility to it because obviously mermaid tales are not cheap. I pay a couple of thousand dollars for that. Wow. Rise to my measurements and to my every need. But I think making them more accessible in a digital format would almost give people a test run virtually to see if it is something they wanna invest in IRL.
remx: That’s a cool concept too. So outside of just mermaid life, you also have been producing music so I would love to learn more about your music background too.
Sia Shells: Yeah, for sure. So I feel like I’ve been doing music forever, but only in the last few years I only really found my footing and my voice and what genre I wanna keep exploring, but still in that experimental phase. For me and my music, it’s been a journey. So I’ve done everything from rock music, I’ve been in a metal band, I’ve done it all. And then I found my footing in independent pop, dreamy kind of music, which I feel is very great to pair with mermaid stuff because I actually have people in the mermaid community that use my songs on their videos.
remx: Oh that’s so cool.
Sia Shells: That is exactly what I want. I want people to use it again as a type of escape and just have that moment of reflection through the lyrics or through the song or the tune itself. So yeah, it’s definitely been a journey with my music as well. But I’m really happy that I found a happy place with it now where I am very certain and confident in the style I wanna keep creating. So I just released a song “Girl Gang’’ not too long ago and I actually performed that in the Metaverse so that was kinda cool.
So I’d love to keep doing that. Honestly I’d love to keep doing Metaverse concerts and stuff. So I hope that just becomes more and more of a thing cause I think that’s a great venue that you can perform in, another audience you can get in front of. I think it’s great.
remx: Yeah, most definitely. So do you see maybe Metaverse is how this will merge into bringing all of your avenues into one place?
Sia Shells: I’m dipping my toes in a lot of different things, but I think there is a synergy between them. It’s not completely disconnected from one another, they all kind of live in the same world. So I think the Metaverse is another place where mermaids can just escape, be themselves, explore that option. Even for just accessibility. Some people in the Mer-community have reached out to me before because they are in a wheelchair or they can’t necessarily swim and stuff like that. But they love the lifestyle and they love just what it brings and the magic it instills in people. So I think even having that and just giving those people the opportunity and the option to just escape into that world virtually, if not IRL, I think is really magical.
remx: Most definitely. And I’m really excited to see where that takes you. Do you have any future projects or projects that you’re working on right now? What is next for Sia Shells?
Sia Shells: Oh my gosh definitely the wearables are on my radar for sure. I am looking to really work on that and release that in the new year. And then in terms of an NFT collection, I would love to do that as well, but I really wanna be mindful in how I do it because as you know, there’s a lot of NFT collections out there, so I have to make sure that there’s some kind hook, no pun intended, to draw people in. The giving back factor would actually be really important to me because environmentalism and the impact that all of these things are having on our planet are really important. I think yeah, just making sure that the way I do it is the right way, I guess I’m just kind of taking my time to release it the right way, just like I did with the Sea Bae stuff. It took me two years to actually develop the product and test it out and see what I wanted to do and then I kind of just released it when I was ready. I just wanna make sure that everything is perfect before I release it, I guess in the most perfect way or in the most perfect scenario.
remx: I mean I think that that’s the most important part of being an artist. It’s like this is your craft and you need to make sure that it’s like to the level of what you want it to be. Honestly, I’m really excited to see what you create. Hopefully we get you in on remix and we could, oh my goodness, could you imagine I’m an entire all blue collection of Sees Shells. That to me is every shade of blue.
Sia Shells: Love that.
remx: I feel like “50 Shades of Blue” instead of “50 Shades of Gray” is the name of your collection. There you go.
Sia Shells: There we go! Yeah, I see it now. No, but it’s true. I guess it is an artist thing. You just wanna make sure that everything is done the right way. Especially when you’re in the public space, in the public eye, there’s always people that are going to be negative or try to pick away at what you’re doing. So I always wanna make sure that I have my bases covered and that I can truthfully, wholeheartedly say that no, this is the way I wanted to do it and I’m happy I did it.
remx: And I think also, especially because you want to pair the giving back aspect, I think that that’s really a benefit of Web3 and this space as a whole. There’s companies like The Giving Block that helps with giving back to communities through blockchain tech. So I think that that is a really cool aspect to what you’re doing, that we could see actual change and be able to see in real time how much is being raised through the collections and secondary and all of that. So absolutely incredible. I’m so excited. I’m so glad that we got to meet with you and kind of share a bit more about your story and what the future holds for Sia Shells as an artist. So thank you so much for joining us today.
Sia Shells: Yeah, for sure. Thanks for having me. And I definitely think we’re going to be seeing more of each other when I have my collection all figured out, fleshed out. But yeah, I would love to keep in touch and I think there’s some really cool stuff happening with remx, so I definitely wanna stay in the loop.
Stay up to date with Sia Shells on her website: https://www.siashells.com/ or purchase her reusable makeup wipes here.
Or follow along on her journey on Twitter and Instagram.
remx makes it easy for anyone to design their own digital fashion collections. Check it out at remx.xyz or sign up for the mailing list.
