Captive Companions
21 February 2020 - 5 May 2020
For decades, the intelligence of birds has been greatly underestimated and birds have been thought of as “easy pets.” However, recent ornithological studies have shed light on just how intelligent birds actually are. In fact, some species of birds rival humans in certain aspects of their intelligence and social skills. These findings challenge the way we as humans have been keeping pet birds in captivity. Through her paintings, her pet parrots social media accounts and her book, Anne hopes to provide insight into how we can become more supportive and more ethical bird owners in the future.
Anne uses live birds as the references for her paintings. For the ‘Captive Companions’ collection above, Anne and fellow artist Corinne Lewis brought together around 30 highly trained, free-flight birds of different species to document their personalities and plumage (for a sneak peak at the process, watch the ‘behind the scenes’ video above). By taking references from live birds that are free to fly and express themselves, it offers the artist the rare opportunity to closely encounter and document the true personalities of each bird.
