The Bird Girls is a visual response to the shock and horror at the number of female deaths in Australia each year as a result of violent acts against women. Women’s rights organisation ‘Destroy the Joint’ runs an ongoing tally of deaths of women in Australia, which The Bird Girls uses as its base framework. The sheer number of deaths is devastating, and while the ‘Counting Dead Women’ initiative by Destroy the Joint is admirable and incredibly important, The Bird Girls extends this information by visually illustrating each of the women killed in an individual, hand-drawn portrait.
 

The work is made up of large scale, hand drawn portraits of faceless women, with one portrait representing each life lost. While the subject matter is volatile, the illustrations do not attempt to lay blame, be violent or shocking, and instead explore and capture facets of the feminine that have captured the interest of artists for centuries – strength, beauty, fragility, mystery.

In form, the portraits are faceless, focusing on the hairstyles of the figures. The hairstyles illustrated include all forms of coiffure- classic, modern, styled, casual, punk, young and old. They are layered with detailed illustrations of birds - though it is sometimes difficult to tell if the bird play a friend or foe.

The birds draw on folktale and mythological symbolism, ranging from fertility and maternal instinct, to the watcher and guardian, to a warning of impending doom. The birds nest in the girls' hair, hover over their shoulders, circle above their heads - making it difficult to tell if the girls are caring for the birds or vice versa.

 

For each woman killed by acts of violence in Australia in  2016, I will draw a portrait.

 

I swear never to commit, excuse, or remain silent about violence against women.

This is my oath.