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Judith Roderick explores the artists of the bird world with 'Bowerbirds'
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Explore the artists of the bird world, made into their own works of art.
“I am showing quilts. The originals I painted on silk, very elaborate quilts with the theme of bowerbirds,” Judith Roderick said.
The Australian and New Guinea species are the artists of the bird world according to Roderick. The birds create elaborate bowers.
“They not only build it, they decorate it quite elaborately,” she said.
Roderick’s pieces will be on display at the Wild Hearts Gallery in Placitas through Aug. 31. There will be an artist's reception from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 16.
Quilting has been Roderick’s primary art form for about 20 years, she said, but the exhibit explores a different theme than her previous projects.
“I’ve done a lot of protest quilts in my life. And there’s a lot to protest right now. So I leaned that direction for a long time,” Roderick said. “And then I thought this is in our face every day, every minute, every time … I just don’t want to put more of that out in the world.”
When she was looking for a new theme to explore, she leaned into her love of birds, specifically bowerbirds.
“I thought, OK, I want to make something beautiful and interesting and uplifting. And I’ve been making bowerbird quilts on and off for many years,” Roderick said. “But I’ve never made this many at the same time, because they’re quite elaborate to make. So we’re going to have a little flock of bowerbirds in New Mexico this month.”
The “flock of bowerbirds” will be featured on pieces crafted with silk, showcasing different species of the bird.
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“I paint on silk, so it’s like painting a watercolor. You’re painting on white silk stretched out horizontally,” Roderick said. “And I’m using resist for the edges to draw the images, and then I’m painting and then with these quilts, there’s a lot of collaging.”
Roderick’s pieces have everything from buttons and beads to clothespins and spoons sewn on them.
Bowerbirds, like the satin bowerbird, collect objects based on their color.
“For a long time last year, I told my friends, when you’re hiking, if you see any little trash that’s blue, bring it to me,” Roderick said. “So they did. I have all kinds of little weird blue things there.”
There are many steps in the process to make the quilts, but Roderick said her favorite step is near the end when it comes to putting on all the bits and pieces.
“I sew on the buttons and sew on the beads and everything. Maybe that’s my favorite part because it’s very meditative for me, and I do it very slowly, and I have so many wonderful things to choose from,” Roderick said.
Aside from her friends collecting items for her to sew on, Roderick said she has amassed quite a button collection.
“Mothers see my quilts with buttons on, and they say, ‘Dear, would you like my button collection? Because I don’t know what to do with it,’” Roderick said. “And I say yes. So I have a wonderful button collection from all kinds of people, and I’m still getting them.”
She likens herself to the bowerbirds because of the collections she has amassed.
“I always think, if I was a bird, oh, I’d like to be like a whooping crane or an eagle, but really, I’d be a bowerbird,” Roderick said. “Because I collect objects and I arrange objects and I decorate my quilts. I just do what they do, they do what I do.”
Roderick wanted to use her art and collection to create pieces to spread positivity.
“What I’m still trying to do is spread a little beauty in the world, and there’s plenty of sadness and ugliness and meanness and bullies and humans behaving badly to each other and to the Earth,” Roderick said. “And I just want to spread a little joy and a little beauty and a little delight out there.”
