Bird Seven Victorian style glass cases containing individual hand made dioramas, little scenes surrounding dressed-up taxidermy birds who play the starring role in an ambiguous narrative. In each case a native British bird is dressed up Beatrix Potter style and inhabits a unique and hand made world in which it is unclear how the viewer is supposed to read the drama displayed before them. Is this Victorian taxidermy in the vein of “Kittens at a Wedding”, is it a child’s toy as the use of dolls house furniture and accessories would suggest, or is the scene presented to us more gothic and sensational than that, are these seemingly innocuous birds in fact the women the titles suggest who have been monstrously transformed by their rage, bitterness and desperation. |
 | Away from the Flock or "Nightmare on Severance Moor" Taxidermy and mixed media 40x45x35cm approx A starling, sixties style; a northern moor, the scene of many a tale of danger and misadventure. Reconstructed in cardboard with just a hint of Myra Hindley as the ultimate in iconic monstrous women |
 | Away from the Flock |
 | Bird of Prey or "The Sad and Sorry Tale of Old Miss Falco and the Disappearance at Darcy Manor" Taxidermy and mixed media 40x45x40cm approx A kestrel at a picnic in formal gardens in regency dress perhaps. The angry and frustrated spinster seems to me to be an underlying narrative to many a genteel and civilised tale. A life of enforced childlessness could well drive a woman to acts of horror and madness. |
 | Bird of Prey |
 | Bye Bye Blackbird or "The Strange and Mysterious Tale of Miss Rosa Lee Gardener and the Summer at Delusion Meadow" Taxidermy and mixed media 40x45x35cm approx In popular folklore gypsies often stole innocent children away from their loving parents, in reality gypsy children were often forcibly removed from their families by "well doers" and the Church. I'm imagining a woman on the edge of madness dressed 'gypsy-style' and living at the extremes of new-age society, perpetuating beliefs and self delusions that could lead to irrational acts of cruelty. |
 | Bye Bye Blackbird |
 | Like a Duck to Water or "The Tale of Mary Bell duck and the Disappearance at Redemption Cut" Taxidermy and mixed media 40x50x40cm approx A piece of wasteland by an abandoned canal; a schoolgirl or housemaid seems to be implicated in an unspecific crime. Or maybe she's just passing? The true story of Mary Bell is of course a reference here. |
 | Like a Duck to Water |
 | One for Sorrow or "The Tale of Miss Maggie Whistle-blower and the Incident at the Village Shop" Taxidermy and mixed media 50x45x45cm approx A magpie dressed like a Victorian nurse or nanny in a rural street scene. Referencing the spate of baby snatchings that I remember from my childhood in the 1970s. The concept of the ‘caring’ nurse or nanny who turns out to anything but also references the notorious case of Beverley Allit. |
 | One for Sorrow |
 | Sing Like a Canary or "A Kitchen Sink Drama at Winnie Mandela House" Taxidermy and mixed media 35x40x35cm approx The only interior scene in the series. A housebound canary, originally from foreign climes; trapped, lonely and desperate. I'm thinking here of 'bought' brides and the bitterness and disappointment some most feel as the reality of their English dreams unravel. |
 | Sing Like a Canary |
 | Winter Plumage or "A Cautionary Tale; the Scandalous Search at Thrushbottom Park" Taxidermy and mixed media 35x45x35cm approx The search for Madeline McCann triggered for me memories of many older stories that ended more concisely. As a child, there were always flashers in my local park, sometimes someone more ominous. |
 | Winter Plumage |