A Seagull

For our last project of the year we were given 3 weeks to research and create an artwork.

The subject discipline I was doing was Illustration.

We had to pick any art or design movement we wanted and spend at least a week researching that particular subject. I chose to look at Natural history illustration, in particular Ornithological illustrations (study of birds).

My starting point was the work of Audubon from the 18th and 19th century, then looked at how this type of illustration has changed over the past few hundred years. I also looked at how artists have used taxidermy to accompany this type of illustration.

The aim of my project was to create a show for Sky Arts based on my research topic.

I chose to produce an artifact from the show. I looked at the birds which you found in the city, the dirty, scavengers, opposed to something beautiful and found in the forrest, which is what the majority of natural history drawings are like.

I made this seagull using a wire base, then made feathers out of paper, using newspaper for some parts to reflect the dirty habitat the seagulls of the city live in, filled with rubbish.

I thought i'd display it as you would see any normal taxidermy'd animal.

As well as producing this artifact, I made a poster for the show to promote it, naming it '(Un) Natural History'.