RIGHT(S) OR WRONG

This image came to me as a vision of only the nest in a pelvis at first, and the rest came years later.  I created a piece of the first image years ago, but it always felt like it needed to be remade, something was missing.   It spent years on the shelf until the following story happened.

My dad found a robin's nest in the wreath of his front door.  After showing a friend, he learned that the one overly speckled egg inside is actually that of a cowbird. His friend suggested he remove the egg or else it would hatch early and the mother robin would instinctually leave her eggs to die while she raised the cowbird. If the robin removes the egg from her nest, the cowbird will retaliate and destroy her nest and eggs. In a sense, her reproductive rights are taken away by the cowbird. My dad showed me the nest and I knew I was being called to recreate this piece.

Shortly after, I made this artwork.  It no longer feels like something is missing. It feels like a complete artwork, a complete story, a complete message.

While working on this piece, I did a lot of thinking about what the story means to me.  I thought about how much people hate crowbirds. But this is just what a crow bird does. I thought a lot about instinct and choice, both of birds and of humans. I thought about reproductive choices and sometimes the lack of them.  I thought about my own reproductive choices.

 I invite you to let this piece into your home and find what it means to you.