Si Sirena at si Diwata

by Dionne Co | From Issue One (Fall 2025)

An illustration of two white-outlined, long haired mermaids holding each other’s hands, as they gaze at each other, lying on their stomachs, against an abstract, textured background of yellow, black, blue imperfect shapes.

Dionne Co is a Chinese Filipino Canadian artist based on the unceded homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. She writes, draws, makes comics, books and zines as part of her artistic practice. Her work uses graphic and text-based narratives to explore themes like alienation, intimacy, and relationships with the non-human world. Dionne was born in Manila and now resides in East Vancouver with her two dogs.

Her illustration depicts a friendship between two Filipino mythological creatures: Sirena and Diwata. Sirena refers to merfolk. Diwata is a term that refers to and encompasses fairies, nature spirits and nymphs. Both terms are gender-neutral. As Sirena is a water creature and Diwata is an earth creature, Co perceived the two to become natural friends. In creating this piece, Co reflected on the kinds of friendship they witnessed and experienced when they were growing up in Manila. Co remembers being very affectionate and touchy with their friends, and how they enjoyed the feeling of platonic physical closeness, which differs from their current home in Vancouver.