Two dragon-like creatures with flashy fangs and silver sparkly fringe hang from utility posts on 41st St., in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood.
At first, Jen Apodaca, founder of Mother Tongue Cafe & Bar, did not think much of the creatures. “I just thought they were really rad!” they said.
One day, Apodaca noticed that just as the creatures had appeared, they vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind. Apodaca assumed the worst and thought that maybe the creatures had been destroyed or stolen.
A few months went by when, out of the blue, Apodaca saw that two new creatures had reappeared on the same utility posts as before. This time, they decided to take a closer look and noticed a QR code directing them to (@)Sea_Dragonsss on Instagram. Apodaca kept an eye on the sea dragons every day, until one night, one was found broken on the ground.
To save the artwork, Apodaca contacted SEA Dragonsss, requesting permission to attempt gluing it back together and storing it safely inside Mother Tongue. However, after attempting to piece it together, they were unable to do so because they didn’t have enough clamps to hold it intact.
For 10 years, the artist behind SEA Dragonsss has created and placed his creations from coast to coast—along the West Coast from Seattle to the Bay Area and down to Los Angeles, and on the East Coast as well. What began as a way to get rid of junk has since evolved into a phenomenon and a collaboration with artists and small-business owners.
After their online exchange, SEA Dragonsss made a pit stop at 308 41st St. in Oakland to formally introduce himself to Apodaca. “Our vibes matched!” Apodaca said, excited by the instant connection. During their conversation, Apodaca pointed out a stone statue of Chalchiuhtlicue, the Aztec goddess of water, fertility and childbirth, which sits behind the bar on the liquor shelf. They had purchased it prior to getting the lease to their brick-and-mortar location.
Apodaca, who was drawn to the statue, believed Chalchiuhtlicue’s essence helped set the intention for their business. “I just felt like I needed some ultimate mom magic,” they said.
To this day, SEA Dragonsss enjoys the idea of people encountering his creatures and wondering, “What the heck is this? I have no idea!”
Creating these creatures originally began as a way to put roughly 18,000 CDs and DVDs to use. During this time, SEA Dragonsss made films and played noise music, eventually releasing a two-disc set of CDs and DVDs that, he says, never sold because the music was not the kind everyone would buy. A surplus of wood scraps, wire, stencils, spraypaint and other materials lying around also needed to be used.
“It was just an abstract, colorful-mobile piece that didn’t even look like a dragon,” SEA Dragonsss said.
Soon after, he was sitting around when the idea struck to place one in his Seattle neighborhood. After putting up the first creature, SEA Dragonsss decided to continue installing them around the city—preferably at three or four in the morning, to maintain anonymity and keep the mystery alive for people who discovered them during their morning commute.
“I did not have any meaning behind it at first. They weren’t even dragons,” he said. “I started making them more figurative and more like these creatures. Before that, I was just saying they were time machines. That’s when I combined the two: They are time-traveling dragons.”
In 2020, SEA Dragonsss first brought his time-traveling dragons to the Bay Area during a visit to his aunt in El Cerrito. What began as a simple visit soon turned into an artistic journey, as he began collaborating with local artists to find the perfect spots to showcase his creations. Years later, after his aunt passed, SEA Dragonsss returned to her old neighborhood and placed a dragon on her street.
Now, a Chalchiuhtlicue-inspired sea dragon hangs from above the bar inside of Mother Tongue. It’s been there for a month or two now, and has inspired Apodaca to clear space on a back wall, with the goal of bringing in more art created by local artists, for people to enjoy.
