‘What kind of bird are you?’ Is a house paint and oil painting on canvas. The composition is transient/transparent , and transparent interweaving of figure and nature. The main is of a woman transforming into a blue Herron bird
“What kind of bird are you” is derivative from my visual interpretation of ‘when we were birds’ by Trinidadian author; Ayanna Lloyd Banwo.
The work is focused on my visual interpretation of the title and the symbolism used within the book; the girl turned bird.
I expanded on the beautiful and thought provoking analogy of the woman become bird, my painting with new meaning exploring my personal narrative therein. I further contextualized its Trinidadian identity by choosing her trans-figurative bird to be the blue-Herron, one of my favorite birds native to the Trinidadian swamp.
This for me, embodies the raw of my personal Caribbean experience and identity. It explores themes of longing, freedom, beauty and otherness. The shapeshifter I consider myself and many others like me to be, how we change and how we dream of flight.
