Hirundo rustica

Hirundo Rustica (Swallow) is a celebration of swallows, who despite danger, make an epic 6,000 mile journey from Africa to England. After reading the book 'A Single Swallow' by Horatio Clare which tracked the epic journey of a swallow from Africa to Wales and the intersection of the natural and human worlds I started to link with issues surrounding migration. While this work was designed and made in 2010 the political issues surrounding migration are stronger than ever. Designed and made for an 'Art in the Garden' exhibition at Crook Hall, Durham called Creation, the exhibition focus was the 18th Century biologist and physician, Carl Linnaeus,known as the father of modern taxonomy. Materials and colours have been used as metaphors in this work.