The Art & Craft of Nests

“Birds more than any other animals, may serve as bonds between man and nature.” ~ Frank Chapman , Handbook of Birds, Eastern N. America, 1896

As I prepare for my upcoming exhibition, the Art & Craft of Nests at the City Library, as part of Craft Contemporary 2022 and National Bird Week, I am seeking to explore this bond, how might a bridge be suspended between our species?

Finely Feathered

‘It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.” ~Aesop

Although Aesop’s fable teaches us that to be useful is of much more importance and value than to be ornamental, avian science plays devil’s advocate to reveal otherwise. Akin to the rise of fashions on the field at the Spring Racing Carnival, birds have become brighter and more colourful over time too. From fashion to feathers, the aim is the same, all efforts are in the name of sexual success.

Cotton Reverie

Delving into billowing clouds of cotton and thought, where do the textile traditions of birds and humankind intersect? Birds revere cotton for the same reasons we do and with beak and breast they felt the soft, durable fibres into their nests. Avian or Homo sapiens, we both swoon to swaddle our young in the comforts of cotton.