Southern Birds is a pentaptych, comprising of four mosaic panels each featuring a bird, and the fifth as a title panel. It was made for a mosaic exhibition, on the theme of “Constellations”, held in 2022 in Chester Cathedral.
Inspired by Johann Bayer's illustration of the Southern Birds constellation in his Uranometria, a star atlas, published in 1603. The constellation comprises of four bird panels: Tucana (toucan), Grus (crane), Phoenix and Pavo (peacock). The fifth title panel, alongside the whole presentation of the mosaics, references the John Clayton mosaics in Chester Cathedral.
MATERIALS: include reclaimed ceramics, including 1970's Midwinter Caprice and J&G Meakin's Impact cups and saucers, vintage vegetable dishes, Turkish pottery, a teapot, lustre ware, salvaged blue tiles with gold glass tiles and Winckelmans tiles, on a Wedi board substrate. Handmade MDF frame.
MEASUREMENTS: Height 100 cm, Width 70 cm, Depth 2, Weight 11.5kg
