I do indeed draw a shocking amount of naked women. And plants. It kind of seems to be my thing. It also definitely helps that my last module of university was based around the idea of authorial practice, so looking at how and why I create the imagery that I do. Growing up, I never fully felt comfortable in my body, or with how I looked.
What makes a man move from wrongdoing to do-gooding? From thieving to philosophizing? In the case of Bird it was the pursuit of art. It was the drawing of women in bedrooms and art rooms, on beaches and in bed and breakfasts.
At the time the Black Lives Matter campaign in the UK was drawing the national spotlight to the statues of slave traders , another activist was highlighting the way women are represented in civic statuary. It shows a seated man bathing his feet surrounded by a clutch of fawning semi-naked women. The placard bearer is ArtActivistBarbie, a Barbie doll posed in front of artworks and monuments, and the playful alter ego of Sarah Williamson, a senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield.