Reimagining Audubon

If my collages seem familiar, it’s because much of my work is rooted in a reimagining of John James Audubon’s Birds of America—an ambitious series of 435 life-sized bird illustrations completed in 1838, a project that took him over a decade to finish.

When I first encountered Audubon’s work, I was captivated by its scale, drama, and obsessive attention to detail. As someone who has always loved birds, I admired the boldness of his vision and the intensity of his focus. But as I dug deeper—reading his journals and biographies, spending hours studying his composition and process—my admiration became more complicated. Audubon was a man of his time, and his relationship to nature often centered on conquest rather than care.

As an artist deeply connected to the natural world, I began to see the blind spots in his legacy—the absence of tenderness, and a relationship to nature built on dominance rather than coexistence. My work responds not with rejection, but with reinterpretation. Through collage, I reframe these birds not as specimens, but as expressive, layered subjects. I’m not trying to replicate Audubon’s illustrations; I’m trying to see through them, to ask different questions, and to offer a more intimate, contemporary lens.

“My work responds not with rejection, but with reinterpretation. Through collage, I reframe these birds not as specimens, but as expressive, layered subjects. ”

To create each piece, I hand-paint sheets of paper with acrylics, gouache, and ink washes, layering tones that reflect the shifting colors of feathers, foliage, and light. Then I cut and assemble the painted pieces onto wood panels, building up each bird slowly, shape by shape. This meticulous process brings dimension and form to a flat medium—like a gentle form of taxidermy.

Audubon books, my field notes, and ornithological references inform my artwork.

My background in industrial design shapes the composition and craftsmanship behind each piece, and my training as a Master Naturalist and Master Birder keeps the work rooted in ecological truth. But more than anything, this is an intuitive process. I approach each bird as a subject for layered storytelling—choosing form, focus, and color with care.

I work slowly and mindfully, and I hope the viewer will do the same—taking time to notice fine details, subtle textures, and the quiet life within each bird. Through this work, I hope to pay quiet tribute to Audubon’s legacy—and to spark a more mindful, personal connection with the birds that surround us. My scissors are my scalpel. My sketchbook is my field guide. And each collage is both an homage and a hopeful reimagining—rooted in wonder, layered in meaning, and grounded in a desire to see the natural world with fresh eyes.

For more reading about James John Audubon and his complicated history: The Myth of John James Audubon | Audubon