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Of Birds and Men
American Redstart and Al.jpg

2018-19

Of Birds and Men is a series of 26 portraits of men in power accused by women of sexual misconduct, facing a bird with the same letter as their name. There is one portrait for each letter of the alphabet, A-Z. Each bird is exquisitely painted with watercolor while the men are drawn with pen and ink. The colorful birds contrast with the black and white portraits of the men.

 

This work is meant to represent a dialogue between mother nature (bird) and mankind (man), a gentle reckoning from a higher power. Birds are harbingers of ill deeds. Like the proverbial canary in the mine, they alert us to problems through their heightened sensitivity. They are delicate, beautiful and surprisingly fierce, and seem up to the task of facing these men and holding them accountable for their actions. 

 

These specific men are not important, other than to show how pervasive sexual abuse is in our power structures. They are stand-ins for all the men A-Z who have abused their power against women. Part of this dialogue is to look at the relationship between how we treat women and how we treat the environment. The same abuse, neglect and disregard is perpetrated against both by men in powerful positions. 

 

Although the bird and man are facing each other, the bird is actually looking at the viewer because non-predatory birds have eyes on the side of their heads. My intention is to bring the viewer into the dialogue. Ultimately, we are all responsible for creating culture and we can all be part of the conversation, as well as the solution.

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