These paintings began during a walk one morning when I came upon a dead bird. I took a photo and later made a drawing, then a painting. Within a few days I came upon several more dead birds and so decided that this would form the genesis of my new series. I used the photos on the small canvasses and made paintings from each, as a sort of homage. From that beginning I combined the dead and dying, and falling, tumbling birds in compositions with women. Pregnant women, grieving women, young mothers, appalled and disgusted women all became my statement of my very, very disturbed and aggrieved feelings about the cultural and political state we’d come to in the U.S.
The series comprises some 40 paintings now, many of which are small portraits of dead birds of many species.
I have worked with live models as well as photo references for this series. Many of the paintings combine my love of drawing with my passion for painting. I would hope the combination serves to express the shifting tensions of an uncertain future for our species, and for the planet.
