This is a question I’ve been asking myself for a while, “What’s with all the birds Tracey?!” And the simple answer is, I don’t really know…
It’s not something that has been a rational choice. I don’t have a manifesto about the social implication of flight or the environmental consequences of species loss. I can’t sit down and tell you what my intellectual intention behind a piece is, and honestly, for a long time that has made me feel like less of an artist. I used to think you must have something to say and make people stop and think. But my personal approach to art is more feeling and less thinking. I am a visceral artist. I don’t make art to make a point, I make art because it makes me feel good to make something beautiful and I hope it makes people feel happy to see something beautiful.
Right now I choose to celebrate the beauty in birds because I seem to be endlessly fascinated by them. It’s the curve of their necks, the graphic shape of their form, their strange staccato movements, their ability to take flight, their wildness, their diversity, their colour, their songs … They interest me on so many levels and maybe one day I’ll put into better words why I am so drawn to them but for now it simply boils down to I think they are pretty.
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