Exaltation (24 Birds)

Completed 2021

Note: Besides the lone bird flying overhead, there are an additional 23 images of life-size birds embedded within the portrait.  The images were taken from a reproduction of a 19th century French ornithologist guide to larks.  Further, the collective noun — think “a murder of crows,” or “a gaggle of geese” — for a group of larks is an exaltation.  Larks, best known for their song, are one of the few avian species that have the ability to sing even when they fly.

Willie Nelson