Khiri Lee
Sep 9, 20192 min
Before reading this blog post on my new series of paintings take some time to go listen to The Feather Heist on This American Life. I recently listened to this podcast on a road trip to California, and it solidified my desire to create a series of paintings focused on the magic of the Birds of Paradise, the bird, not the flower.
Birds of Paradise are a group of 39 birds found primarily in New Guinea and Australia. They have been shrouded in mysticism and adoration by people forever, with their vivid plumage and outrageous dancing. When they first began importing these birds to Europe they quickly became the fascination of collectors and philosophers who wondered about their connections to the divine. Later these prestigious birds went on to contribute meaningful findings for the theory of evolution, shaping our understanding of the cosmos to this day.
All of this history paints a fantastical image of these birds in my mind and I had to create a series to honor these magnificent creatures. Painted in a style similar to the “Sphere’s of Self Realization” series I completed last year, these new paintings are a mirage of color and movement. Holding all of the weight of history, myth, and imagery of these birds in my minds eye I worked to paint the essence of these creature.
Fallen Angel, Acrylic Gelli Mono Print on Metal, (2019)
To Play & Dance, Acrylic Gelli Mono Print on Metal, (2019)
Curiosity Cabinet, Acrylic Gelli Mono Print on Metal, (2019)
These paintings, as well as a small number of prints, will be for sale at Lafayette’s Art Night Out this Friday September 13th, 2019, and any not sold there will be for sale on Etsy. These are one-of-a-kind acrylic paintings on metal. They can hang or stand to be featured on a wall or on an altar. Once they are sold there will never be another one available so claim your piece of this magic before they are gone. To honor the power of these paintings I will not be reproducing these images on Print on Demand sites like Society6 or Redbubble. However, snippets of these images were used in the Birds-of-Paradise issue of 52 Feathers, which is also available for sale in my Etsy Store, and a portion of proceeds from this zine are donated to bird conservation groups.