Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Book of Birds 19: Blythe Feathered Jewels
Ohio Roots Collection.
Custom Sizes Available
15×20 $1875 (1 matted in stock)
The Book of Birds: An Artist's Requiem
The Book of Birds: An Artist’s Requiem is inspired by a vintage guide to birds of North America, The Book of Birds, published in 1932. Although each of us might read the same book, we each also read a different book, one overlaid with our own perceptions, emotions, memories and imagination. In turning to this book, I was naturally drawn to the illustrations and photographs, but also to the text, a narrative that is much more personal and lyrical than the text of guidebooks today. I also felt a deep sense of poignancy upon entering a realm where so many of the birds are now extinct, endangered, or greatly reduced in numbers.
The Book of Birds project represents my personal experience of the book, one that exists only in my imagination. Pages of the book are transformed and layered with reflections, objects, and images from my collection. Birds seem to escape the bonds of time and gravity to take flight from the pages. Fragments of text collected from the book become captions and then find their own order in a poetic narrative. Here each bird speaks from a quiet place of myth and memory, transience and grief, wonder and mystery, and the quotidian and intangible passage of time.
Book of Birds 19: Blythe Feathered Jewels
Ohio Roots Collection.
Custom Sizes Available
15×20 $1875 (1 matted in stock)
The Book of Birds: An Artist's Requiem
The Book of Birds: An Artist’s Requiem is inspired by a vintage guide to birds of North America, The Book of Birds, published in 1932. Although each of us might read the same book, we each also read a different book, one overlaid with our own perceptions, emotions, memories and imagination. In turning to this book, I was naturally drawn to the illustrations and photographs, but also to the text, a narrative that is much more personal and lyrical than the text of guidebooks today. I also felt a deep sense of poignancy upon entering a realm where so many of the birds are now extinct, endangered, or greatly reduced in numbers.
The Book of Birds project represents my personal experience of the book, one that exists only in my imagination. Pages of the book are transformed and layered with reflections, objects, and images from my collection. Birds seem to escape the bonds of time and gravity to take flight from the pages. Fragments of text collected from the book become captions and then find their own order in a poetic narrative. Here each bird speaks from a quiet place of myth and memory, transience and grief, wonder and mystery, and the quotidian and intangible passage of time.