Currently I am part of a group exhibition at Logan Art Gallery titled “Where do I belong? Our birds in Art”.  The exhibition contains work I’ve recently completed several of wings titled "Hide" (pictured above) which will be on display till 29th August 2026.

The works pictured above are all from "Hide", a body of work dedicated to creating wings of birds that are critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or at risk in Australia.  These 5 works focus on birds in danger in Queensland.  The textile pieces are made using felt, wool, pins and embroidery on fabric.  Birds featured include the Powerful Owl, the Red Goshawk, the Golden Shouldered Parrot, the Blue Winged Parrot, the Glossy Black Cockatoo, the Swift Parrot and the Ecclectus Parrot.  In three of the larger works, using the "exquisite corpse" technique I have created the bird wings from 3 or 4 birds in combination, this gathering of species creates a "new bird wing" or I have  reproduced my impression of the bird wings (as seen in the smaller works).  The smaller works are made using conventions of museum display to create a specimen which shows the two sides of the wing of a single bird.  The inclusion of pins refers to the processes of taxidermy and also the texture of the feathers of the animals.

The title is a play on the word hide which both refers to the structure created by humans in nature to observe birds and wildlife unseen and also the skinned animal used as carpet and wall display in interior design. In "Hides" I am looking at the strange relationship we have formed with animals where they are viewed and kept at a distance studied by scientists, drawn by artists and placed in museums and zoos, on display in our homes in our furniture and eaten from our plates. This distance is what “bird hide” is about, its a view or a perspective on animal life that is human, how we preserve, record, document, imagine and objectify an animal as process of admiration and a form of cognitive dissonance . 

I have been back in the Queensland Museum doing more drawings of endangered species.  I did this latest drawing of a Sooty Owl, which isn't an endangered or vulnerable bird (unlike most of my drawings) this bird drawing is purely for practice.  The bird was a challenge to me due to the variety of feather patterns across the surface and the middle of the drawing crossing the spine of the book.  In order to depict the bird I had to make choices about what i would put into the drawing and what i would leave out to describe its overall appearance in an accurate way.  I enjoy spending a few hours consciously looking and focusing on a bird specimen and making a drawing from it.  This drawing represents a threshold for a personal aim I have which has nothing to do with the outer/professional experience/external validation of being an artist.  While doing this drawing I was trying to make myself look at the drawing the least amount of times in order to hone my hand eye coordination to test the boundaries of what i could do.  I find personal goals within my practice are a wonderful way to counter the sometimes crushing experiences of being an artist in the current arts climate.  

I am trilled to announce that I am part of the exhibition "Where Do I belong?" our birds in nature @loganartgallery from 20 June –29 August 2026 - Join me for the opening night 5.30pm on 19 June to see the rest of this new work and the other works in the series #exquisitecorpse Hide and the other works in the show by artists from around Australia. 

The work featured is titled Hide Exquisite Corpse (Blue Winged Parrot, Ecclectus Parrot and Powerful Owl) 2026.  Wool, felt, pins and embroidery on fabric.

The title Hide/Exquisite Corpse series refers to the dual meaning of the word "Hide" which can be either a space undercover to watch birds from a distance or a skin or preserved coat of an animal for the purposes of display;  both of these are relevant to the work in that they describe a complex relationship between humans and animals. "Exquisite Corpse" refers to the technique I have used for my work before where I take 3 or more sections of an endangered animal and connect it together to make a new animal.  In the wing pictured here are three endangered Queensland birds, the Blue Winged Parrot, Ecclectus Parrot and the Powerful Owl.  The works are made with a combination of felt/wool, pins and embroidery.  The pins representing the hidden pain of the animal.  The work was inspired by the scientific specimens at the Queensland Museum.

#endangeredspecies
#loganarts #wheredoibelong #explorelogan #RADF @logancity.council @bendigobank @artsqueensland
Photograph by Louis Lim