Swift

Oil on cardboard

Swift is one of the darker works from my 2023 birds collection. I painted the bird lying in the grass with as much care for its feathers as if it were still in flight. The exposed bone makes the fragility undeniable, yet I set it within blades of grass painted in strong, living strokes — green pressing against grey. In older traditions, fallen birds often carried symbolic weight, but I prefer to leave the meaning open. For me, it was a way of acknowledging loss while also holding on to the vitality that surrounds it. The painting lives in the tension between stillness and movement, death and renewal.