THIS SERIES BRINGS TOGETHER DISPARATE IMAGES. MADE OVER THE YEARS, BUT ALWAYS REFERRING BACK TO MY LOVE OF BIRDS.
Birds and Evolution
In 2011 I first noticed a Finch in my backyard; in fact a charm of them. It was a delight to see their flight pattern of little quarter arcs, one after another, landing in the trees near the back deck. They latched onto the feeding sock of thistle I hung for them to pick out the seed, and drank from the edge of the white water bowl I left for them.
Finches do not stay in California year round, unlike the helicopter hummingbirds who remain here all winter. But each Spring I would watch them return, until they didn’t.
At first I took it personally; was I putting the thistle out too late or was there a better feeder on the next block? Finally, one little Finch arrived on the deck and I can only describe his look as sad. But no charm followed him.
Then I happened upon a Washington Post article; Last year, 30,000 backyard, mostly songbirds, died, because of climate change.
The survivors adaption was immediate and filled with evolutionary pain. The surviving birds showed decreasing body size and increased wing span - all measurable in a single year.
Other adaptions included altered migration patterns and behavioral changes. Previously the male songbirds would sing to their babies, teaching them a specific song. The ornithologists can use the specific songs to trace a line of descendants. After the great death, both bird parents now sing to their babies, and also to their eggs before hatching. Like a prayer.
The issue of extinction and climate change is an irrefutable mark that defines our era. These paintings address the resulting transformations and question who is changing into who and who can not change.
Some of the pieces in this series are mythic, some magical and some realistic. It is my hope that the work is a cautionary tale that will spark conversations about our own adaptions and choices in stopping climate changes.
A POEM:
As She Is
Once upon a time when women were birds,
there was the simple understanding that
to sing in the dawn and to sing at dusk
was to heal the world through joy.
The birds still remember
what we have forgotten
that the world is meant to be
celebrated.
- Terry Tempest Williams
