Julie Rivera
"Birds in Paradise"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
This piece is an homage to my friends who have passed away. The setting is surrealistic in nature playing with size, perspective, text and found objects. The scene consists of three parts: The bottom shows the cattails surrounding Honey Lake; above Honey Lake is a savanna if you will; at the top is the night sky. Each bird or creature represents a friend, as well as the two ”stars” in the night sky. The constellation Apus is Bird of Paradise. I was inspired by the Chicago Botanic Garden Japanese Garden Bridge sign stating— In Japanese gardens, bridges carry people across water either real or imaginary. They also symbolically link one world to another—man to the gods, this world to paradise, the world of man to the world of nature.
The piece is constructed using a quilt map technique by Valerie Goodwin. The bottom was created using a Thermofax replication of a photo silkscreen I had done in college. The birds are photographic images fused on fabric. The lake is my hand dyed silk. Beads and sticks were added as found objects and embellishment.
Photo credits: Owl, Trebol-a; Penguin, Samuel Blanc; Bluebird, Sandysphotos 2009; Loon, John Picken; Phoenix, dvarg. Zebra painting by Melanie Z. Asquith.