“Green Rosella” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘Atlas of Tasmania’ (1965). All images © Craig Williams, shared with permission
Peering out from the pages of vintage atlases, textbooks, and field guides, Launceston, Tasmania-based artist Craig Williams assembles a menagerie of vibrant avians inspired by Australia’s vastly diverse wildlife and ecosystems. Spurred by an interest in the natural world, his past work in a wildlife park and as an illustrator with a regional museum specializing in spiders and insects amplified his interest in drawing and painting the natural world. The accuracy of scientific illustrations translated into a flourishing interest in birds, which he began to pair with diagrams, text, and sheet music to draw connections between geography, wildlife, and science.
Williams carefully chooses the pages for their connection to each specimen, such as a map of Tasmania that provides the background for a green rosella, a species endemic to the island. “There will always be a relationship between the bird and the page,” Williams tells Colossal. “[It is] sometimes direct, like the use of the field guides, but even these pay homage to the work of the artists and researchers who create these guides both presently and in the past.” In another piece, a peregrine glides in the foreground of a dictionary’s architectural illustrations, recognizing how the falcon has adapted to urban environments by using tall buildings as nesting places instead of cliffs.
In addition to historical connotations, Williams explores the physics of sound and light. Music pages reference passerines, the order of perching birds to which songbirds belong, emphasizing “the use of song by the birds for breeding, socialisation, territory control, etc., but also bringing our relationship with music and song to these recognisable birds that frequent our gardens,” he says. “Other examples include using old physics textbook pages on light, relating to the color in birds as well as light wavelengths in terms of iridescence, or sound wavelengths in terms of song.”
In collaboration with the podcast “The Science of Birds,” Williams paints a species mentioned in each episode, which are available for sale on the podcast’s shop with half of the proceeds donated to BirdLife International’s conservation efforts. You can find more of the artist’s work on his website and on Instagram.
“Superb Fairy-Wren Pair” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘The Popular Encyclopaedia or Conversations Lexicon’ (1851)
“Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘What Bird is That?’ by Neville W. Cayley (1956)
Left: “Superb Fairy-Wren” (2021), acrylic on vintage page from ‘A Handbook of Tasmanian Birds and it’s Dependencies’ (1910). Right: “Orange Chat” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘What Bird is That?’ by Neville W. Cayley (1956)
“Peregrine Falcon” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language’ (1933)
“Scarlet Robin” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘Leider Ohne Worte’ by Mendelssohn (1800)
Left: “Fairy Penguin” (2021), acrylic on vintage page from ‘A Handbook of Tasmanian Birds and it’s Dependencies’ (1910). Right: “Splendid Fairy-Wren and Banksia Flower” (2022), acrylic on vintage page from ‘What Bird is That?’ by Neville W. Cayley (1951)
“Kookaburra” (2021), acrylic on vintage page from ‘What Bird is That?’ by Neville W. Cayley (1953)
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. You’ll connect with a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, read articles and newsletters ad-free, sustain our interview series, get discounts and early access to our limited-edition print releases, and much more. Join now!
Source: Art - thisiscolossal.com
