Becoming a Bird
I came to Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar-Teacher-Artist, and all three paths have been full of discovery. My topic is the human-bird myths that are found in cultures around the world, and that have inspired my own sculptures; I wanted to see how this theme played out in Taiwan’s rich cultural mix. My goal was to collect images and stories, then work toward sharing knowledge visually and linking this imagery with real birds and environmental issues today. I pursued my visual research from the day I arrived in Taipei, looking around me for examples of human-bird connections in diverse aspects of life in Taiwan. I found them in traditional and contemporary settings, in temples, museums, malls, and movies. As an intuitive artist-researcher, I visited as many sites as I could, took photos, and sketched on an iPad. In the streets of Taipei, I immediately noticed posters that show the ageless human urge to fly like a bird and communicate with worlds beyond our own. Current films and fantasies, like Return of the Condor Heroes and Harry Potter, often feature winged humans, or magical individuals with bird companions, who may use their super-human talents for good or evil. The human-bird imagery
