ABOUT THE ARTWORK:

Billy, an adult male Kestrel, was found by a mechanic, wedged between the radiator of a car. He must have been sometime beforehand and was surviving off the moths and insects caught behind the headlights of the car. He was passed on to a specialist wildlife career and although he had a significant head wound, was extremely low in weight and lost one eye, he has since made a great recovery. Because of the nature of his injury, he is vulnerable to larger birds of prey and cannot be released back into the wild. He will live out his days as a permanent resident in the wildlife carer’s care.

During my time with Billy I noted how calm and gentle he was. He had a calm assuredness to him but also a very strong pull to his carer on who he now relies. His long skinny legs looked so giant and peculiar as he walked around the table, inspecting the objects and pecking at my father’s home grown mandarines.

Once I was back home, I combined my reference photos of Billy with my observational notes and re-created the still-life scene at home.

A fun fact: each day I returned to the studio the onion had changed position, sprouting towards the ceiling more and more each day! I had to weigh it down with plates to keep it in position.