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Birds of America (2010-12)
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History of a Curious Incident in the Gulf of Mexico, Part 2 (2012)
Installation at
The Stone Space
, 2012
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This project is inspired by the disastrous effect of the BP oil spill on the wetland habitats in the Gulf of Mexico. It was clear to me that it was pointless to try and compete with the shocking news photographs of oiled wildlife, so I had to think of something quite different. When rummaging through a bargain box of old prints at a London antiques market, I found a pile of pages torn from a book featuring reprints of
John James Audubon's
famous "Birds of America". Many of these birds breed or winter in areas affected by the BP spill, some are very endangered. Meanwhile, the National Audubon Society was publishing spill maps showing the spread of the BP leak at different times. Intrigued by the shapes of the spill, I decided to paint the spill shapes on top of 'rescued' prints showing potentially affected birds. An initial small set of overpainted prints is framed in simple black wooden frames to create the feel of an old-style natural history museum or conservation archive.
The next phase of the project involved a much larger chronological archive of birds and spills, exhibited at
SPILL at the Stone Space
in 2012.
Slide show
of
History of a Curious Incident in the Gulf of Mexico, Part 1 (2012)
Review of SPILL exhibition and interview with artists
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White Pelican/Oil Spill 11 May 2010
Enamel paint on found print, 34 x 43 cm framed
Sold
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Blacknecked Stilt / Oil Spill 2 June 2010
Enamel paint, acrylic and pencil on found print
Sold
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Seaside Sparrows (Composite Oil Spill May/June 2010)
Enamel paint, acrylic and pencil on found prints, 54 x 40 cm framed
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Wetland Birds II (Composite Oil Spill May-July 2010)
Enamel paint, acrylic and pencil on found prints, 54 x 40 cm
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