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Cliona Doyle
Title: Black Headed Conure
Size: 50 x 65 cm
Medium: Etching
Museums have always been a source of inspiration for my work from the
Gulbenkien Museum in Lisbon to the British Museum to the Chester
Beatty Library. Researching this project I came across a Japanese
book of woodblock prints from the Edo Period, "Pictures of Imported
Birds". During the Edo Period Japan was officially isolated from the
outside world, the only outside contact with other cultures being the
southern part of Nagasaki, which was open to Chinese and Dutch
traders. The birds depicted would have been imported from Europe and
China. One can imagine what a sensation these birds and the
illustrations of them would have caused. I made the initial drawing
of a Black Headed Conure at the Harap butterfly and bird farm. I then
completed the drawing of an apple tree at a friend's orchard in
Wexford. I like the idea that a Black Headed Conure might alight upon
an apple tree in Wexford.
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