Menagerie

'Menagerie' presents a masquerade of bird portraits in watercolour inks and collage, exploring notions of display and allure. The work is a result of an emotive response to the symbolic and allegorical nature of animals, in particular birds, that have the ability to cross both linguistic and territorial boundaries. Fragments of magazine fashion garments interrupt and obscure their faces, evoking a sense of isolation as well as a discomforting inability to connect with the image as a whole. The artist embodies each bird with a naive humour, where vivid colours and the seductive visual language of fashion are used to address issues of dislocation and desire, serving to undermine conventional expectations about our relationship with nature, commodities and society.