BIRD

About

When a mummified bird was found in a disused fireplace, exactly how long it had lain there was uncertain, but it seemed frozen in time. This resulted in the first small oil painting on an old floorboard from the house where Bird lay (Bird Is). It then became more about the process of becoming dust and the fragility of life with considered themes of imprisonment, abandonment and the solitary nature of dying.

However, it seemed in abstract to Annabel that a life doesn’t end at this point, despite the eventual disintegration of all physical things, there is a resurrection through memory, in this case poetry and imagery which brought the unknown Bird to life. Bird was also a discussion about Annabel’s own loss and grief, about the anger and sorrow at lives and freedoms lost, and to some extent a quiet resolution.

At the centre of Bird is the fragility of our existence and ultimately the temporary nature of the appearance and life of all things.