Current Project:
Love Letters to the Ocean is a large-scale, site-specific art installation and ritual conceived by artist Kira von Heuer—first initiated in Hydra, Greece in 2021 and now unfolding as a multi-chapter offering across bodies of water around the world. At its heart: an oversized handwritten love letter by the artist, carried into the ocean and framed by a circle of participants who paddle out and surround it with their bodies, evoking the surfer’s ceremonial paddle-out. Part performance, part invocation, this piece becomes a living altar—an offering of remembrance, tenderness, and reverence to the waters that hold us.
The first activation in this ongoing series is centered on the coastal towns of California, beginning with Malibu. Materials used for the letter and accompanying rituals include seaweed paper and beeswax crayons—natural, biodegradable elements that speak to the project’s intimate relationship with the ocean.
Each chapter also includes an educational and community-based component, inviting participants to engage with the origin stories of the local coastline, including Indigenous knowledge and ancestral memory. Through this lens, the ocean is not just a subject but a teacher, a companion, and a voice—one we are learning to listen to again.
Love Letters to the Ocean transcends the traditional bounds of romantic gesture, ritual, and sculpture. It invites communion rather than observation—ephemeral experiences that ripple outward, leaving lasting imprints on the collective heart.
As the project continues, it will travel to other international shores, evolving with each location while remaining rooted in its intention: to reawaken romance, respect, and communion with our planet’s most life-giving force.
