Birds from memory
Pen and Ink on found sketchbook paper, 10” x 13”
In the middle of the next century, birds have vanished. Perhaps they fled, got sick, or just stopped producing young. What did they look like? The visual record has been buried- photographs and drawings of the past are out of reach. However, there are legends, spread by word-of-mouth. Names and species are forgotten. What people remember is :
The curving forms of beaks, the delicacy of claws, shiny black eyes in the shadows of a nest - but most of all, the softness of some lost natural technology- like scales, but designed to defy gravity.
This concept was inspired by Albrecht Dürer’s famous 1515 drawing of an Indian rhinoceros, based on the accounts of Valentim Fernandes. Dürer never actually saw one of these animals; he could only make an image from the flawed and incomplete information at his disposal.
In making these drawings, I avoided looking at any reference images. The resource I tried to tap is memory- specifically, vivid moments of bird watching with my father.
The original drawings were shown at Galerie Bettina in Paris, France and Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA . A series of three prints by Fata Morgana Press are available on my online shop.
