For the Birds: Rusty Blackbird Redux, Summer 2020
Location: 106 Chemin du Vieux Club, Ivry Sur le Lac, Quebec, Canada
This work was produced for “Art Off-Screen,” a response to Covid shutting down arts venues everywhere. Curated by Eileen Jeng Lynch, this exhibition inspires creativity, amplifies voices, encourages change, and shares messages of hope and healing, placing art in outward-facing locations. More at Neumeraki.com.
This site-specific piece is “for the birds,” both literally and figuratively. High in the trees and in a secluded place where very few people pass, it is exhibited at bird height. For several years, I have been making abstract photograms of birds, ferns, and wildflowers on the endangered species list. The “Rusty Blackbird” is an endangered species native to Quebec, down by 90% from the 1970’s. This piece was also inspired by the song “Blackbird” by the Beatles, known for its lyrical allusions to the civil rights movement.
”For the Birds: Rusty Blackbird Redux” employs lumen printing, a simple photographic process that draws latent color from black & white photo papers. This collaged photogram (and all the work in the larger series) is made by exposing many different brands of black & white photo paper to sunlight to create the color, then scanning these fugitive colors, reprinting them, and cutting them out. This work is displayed in a window in the woods in Canada, where I sheltered in place beginning in March, for 6 months.
Photo Papers: Oriental VC FB II warm Berger Glossy N (46863) Variable CB; Foma V 212 matt; Illford MG; IV RC deluxe pearl; Illford Illfobrom FD 3 Gloss; Foma FB Matt; Oriental VC RC 3 Pearl; Illford MG IV; FB MG F.1K; Illford MG Classic matt; Illford MG FB.1P gloss; Kodak Polyfiber FD cat 1862200; Kodak Polymax Fine Art FD cat 8766040; Illford Warmtone MG RC pearl; Illford MG Classic FB
Lumen collage: 65 x 36 inches, (20% of proceeds go to Equal Justice Initiative)