a presence of bird - MEDIA RELEASE

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birds, landstracts and sculpture
by Greer Taylor
14 November - 2 December  2006

Birds as a depiction of wilderness is the theme of solo exhibition a presence of bird  by artist Greer Taylor at Wollongong’s De Havilland Gallery.

Taylor has always found inspiration in the natural landscape and wild places, and the very idea of wilderness.

Bird imagery plays a large part in this show but it is not how birds look but what they represent that is the focus of this exhibition. A bird’s ability to fly has always had special symbolism, usually associated with ideas of freedom. Birds are also the wild creatures that we are most likely to encounter, even in the suburbs, a way of maintaining a direct contact with the natural world.

“I love that amazing joy for life that birds seemingly exhibit, they are so caught up in their being, gathering food, making nests, having young, singing and flying so effortlessly” says Taylor.

For this exhibition Taylor has explored birds as self portraits, landscapes, synonyms for wilderness, their closeness to the live/death cycle - their/our mortality… this last an issues that that our modern world so often attempts to ignore.

Underlying these ideas is the land, for Taylor her greatest inspiration and her greatest teacher; especially wilderness areas. Being able to experience the “is-ness” of a wilderness is powerful, the realisation that the land can do just fine without the interference of modern humans inspires her to think outside the square.

Working up to this exhibition has taken Taylor on many journeys of discovery exploring these ideas, and she is sure these ideas will provide inspiration for a long time to come.

But do not expect to see only birds as there are other works in the show – from large scale installation style sculptures to abstract paintings; sculptures installed in the gallery space connecting the viewer with other places, and abstract paintings that Taylor refers to as landstracts “they are neither landscapes nor are they truly abstracts”.

The exhibition will be on for 3 weeks from 14 November to 2 December, gallery hours are 10am - 5pm Tuesday – Friday, 11am - 4pm Saturday.

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** as the sculptural works
are installations, images
will not be available until
the exhibition has
been installed