epitaph is a series of drawings that evolved out of a general interest in the haunting image of the dead bird, which I had previously been exploring in other paintings, drawings and small sculptures.  As I researched images of different types of dead birds online, the how of their deaths kept surfacing and standing out to me.  This research prompted me to further explore people’s interaction with birds over the course of history.   Everything from coalmine canaries, pigeons as pests and prizewinners and cormorants tethered and used for fishing, to the near extinction of many species of bird in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries due to the appetites for decoration of the fashion and millinery industries.  

The drawings are an outgrowth of this research.  They are not meant to be didactic, rather, they honor, satirize, muse upon and investigate my personal interest in this rich historical relationship between birds and human beings.