Frances McGonigle

Bower

This is an evolving series of mixed media work concerned with the idea of bird habitat and with bowers in particular. The bower varies in texture and colour in different locations, according to the materials available to the bird. In some places bowers are blue - the bird even uses blue crockery to achieve the right hue. This sense of the harder material of the bower, against the softness and colour of feathers, is what inspires these works on paper. The purpose of the bower is to seduce the female bird with its decorative quality – in this regard, they are small artistic constructs. Bower Birds are sometimes referred to as avian artists. Their evolution and solitary striving to make the most striking creations, for their purpose, is a wonderful story of mystery and ingenuity constantly unfolding in nature.