FAQs

Lisa Maito – creator of AELO and performance artist

What prompted you to create the Blue Woman?

My background is dance and painting and I am a photographer. While working with ultraviolet colour, body painting and photography (Painted People Project), I created blue beings (dancers painted in blue) for a dance and photo performance. Afterwards, I had examined the film and photo footage and realized how strong this blue figure was. So I had the idea to create this protagonist that would convey my artistic and philosophical message to the world.

I wanted to create an expressive figure that can communicate knowledge about energetic connections with a loving presence in an entertaining manner. She is not intended to be loud, but rather still, powerful and poetic. She doesn’t speak with her mouth but with her heart and gaze, through her songs and her dance.

Why is the figure called AELO?

I chose the name AELO very carefully. There is a tone associated with the name: it begins with a strong and distinct vowel and ends with an open, soft vowel. The “A” signals the beginning “here I am” and the “O” symbolises openness, softness, infinity (just like the number zero) and, apart from that, the name sounds very feminine.

Why have you created AELO as an extraterrestrial figure?

There are 3 answers to that question: one answer deals with the visual and two answers with the content.

I am an artist with a penchant for an extraordinary aesthetic. I also love science fiction and fantasy.

AELO should stand out, she should appear alien. With this I would like to represent “the alien within each of us and on the outside”. In my opinion, artistic expression should be linked with depth and a certain degree of entertainment.

And thirdly, I am interested in quantum physics because it can scientifically prove what mystics and spiritual people have already been aware of for thousands of years through meditative insight; when we delve into matter, it dissipates and vanishes; and it’s been proven that it’s comprised of boundless energy. The “material universe, the duality” is anything but material. It could even be that it goes much further, that there’s something even less tangible than energy itself. Something that’s comprised of information, intelligence or consciousness.

What is the purpose of this performance?

AELO is a living symbol for tolerance, beauty and a “relaxed being”. I would like to with this figure spread joy, entertain people and at the same time draw attention to the fact that life can be thoroughly energized as soon as we change our perspective. AELO should provoke – but peacefully.

What’s happening now on our planet shows that it’s time for a profound change. We are championed to change our way of thinking and behaving. I would be delighted if AELO were to become the mascot in this first century of the millennium. Ciao Donald Duck – here comes AELO!

You know, meekness was never my forte in my work. I love venturing into something entirely new.

And then there’s the fact that AELO and the performances bring new challenges into my life, as well as fun, moments of success and – a tremendous amount of work (Lisa Maito laughs)

What does “tolerance, beauty and a relaxed being” mean to you?

The term “tolerance” means respect for me, viewing other opinions and strangers with serenity. For me “beauty” means grace, which is generated through empathy, loving and caring. A “relaxed being” comes from a natural sense of being grounded combined with a balanced mind.

Is AELO a comic figure?

If you choose to see her like that it’s not a problem for me. AELO can serve as a projection surface. If she is viewed as a sweet figure, that’s OK, too, because there is also a very sensitive and delicate side to her being.

Do you think there is life on other planets?

I am convinced that the universe is in constant motion, provided that considers the dualistic principle. In my opinion, the assumption that the human being is the only intelligent species in the entire, infinitely vast universe is absurd. Just because we cannot see them with our eyes doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Or maybe we do see them but aren’t aware of them? There are chemical conditions that exist on this planet and they also had to adapt to them. Apart from that, there are even other ways to exist on this planet without attracting attention.

Why do you use the colour 'blue' and not red, green or yellow?

Blue stands for the female principle, in contrast to red, which stands for the male principle. Blue stands for:

- mental and spiritual power, clarity and concentration

- unfathomable depth of the female energy, the universe and the element of water

- meditation, stillness and quietness

- source, depth, relaxation

Why is Blue Woman a female?

On our earth, she presents herself as a female figure to remind us of the creative qualities within the female energy. These creative qualities need to be treated with respect and dignity, something that has been forgotten for the past 150 years with all the technological developments on our planet.

What is the meaning of the patterns and symbols on Aelo's body?

The universe is moving, and this movement is expressed in waves and spirals. Waves and spirals are also symbols for dance and evolution, and therefore development. With her appearance, AELO would like to remind us of the everlasting wisdom of our heart, the creative elementary force, as well as the multitude of possibilities that life offers and equality among human beings on this planet.

What does Od mean?

Od stands for "energy of life" in the German-Celtic language. In Hindu it is called PRANA and in the Chinese and Japanese language CHI. We cannot see Od with our eyes but we can feel it. Psychics, though, are able to see Od in the form of fine particles of energy floating around every living being - people, animals, plants or even water. Because extrasensory perception can exist in many different forms, just like “extrasensory touch”, for instance, we can all feel “Od”. When we love we exchange this energy with others.

What does Blue Woman have to do with "The Blue Men Group“?

Nothing.

In the “AELO Welcome to the Future” music production she sings in a foreign language. What language is it?

It’s “Algizic”, the language of her home planet “Algiz” in the galaxy of “Sowelo”. The story about AELO is being written at the moment. There is already an exposé for a cinema film. I’d rather not reveal anymore at the moment.