To Draw Breath 2008

Paperbag series began as an informal recording of the local fauna found along the roadsides and parklands of the Gold Coast region in Queensland.

Opposed to photographing and drawing from museum collections, these remains found in their natural habitat defied an ornithological examination.

What became apparent in my observations is that the birds continued to convey an essence or energy, even though the bodies were stiffened by rigor mortis. For me the wings and feathers appeared to live on with an undeniable essence of vitality that enabled the act of drawing to emphasize this aspectthe imperceptible rhythm of existence.

For me the mark—the drawn line becomes the material trace between object and artist, between seeing and revealing and between conscious and unconscious perception. At the same time repetition through duplication reveals the act of deterioration. The original image alternately fades away into the ambiguous and shadowy imprint of its once former presence stressing the resemblance between the transient nature of process and the transience of the corporeal body.