Helena Bacardí Ondine – A Memory Carried by the Sea

Helena Bacardí Ondine continues to draw inspiration from literature, shaping the forms of Helena’s sculptures. The piece takes its name from the French play by Jean Giraudoux and reflects that narrative inspiration.

In the play, a sea nymph emerges from the depths in search of a human soul. She falls in love, is betrayed, and returns to the water, where her memory dissolves into the primal chaos of the sea. Helena wanted to capture the very moment when Ondine returns to the water—her memory fading, her body merging with the formless waves.

Material and Form

The piece, cast in bronze, was originally sculpted in plaster. It sits within a granite bowl, functioning as a garden fountain. The interaction of water and form mirrors the narrative of the sculpture: fluid, ephemeral, and transformative.

Helena used plaster to explore spatial dynamics and how the form could melt and merge with its surroundings. This mimics Ondine losing herself to the sea.

Embodying a Story

This is a story of love, betrayal, and forgetting. Helena expresses it in bronze and water, capturing the essence of the myth in tangible form. The sculpture reflects the ongoing dialogue between memory, emotion, and form.