Birds have extraordinary variety: their physical features, expressions and behaviour contrast widely. Like people, their diversity stretches to every corner of the Earth. It is this connection that is at the core of Bird People, an exhibition of work created during the artist residency of Eva Lorenz at Photosynthesis. 13 birds from around the world feature in photographic work as costumed models, represented in cult-like reverence.

Embracing diversity goes beyond subject to the use of artistic media: a core practice of Eva’s multidisciplinary work. Each costume was produced using recycled, reused, thrifted and literal rubbish items which are elevated by hand-tufted rugs. Bird People exemplifies Eva’s ethos: beauty isn’t just in expensive lace and couture runways – it’s also in your rubbish bin waiting for the day you realise what it could become.  

This work culminates from a lifetime of interests and skills: some well-practiced and others learnt on the fly, but all manually demanding. The project experiments in blending in-studio photography media (digital, film and polaroid), tufting, styling, scrapbooking, collage, papier-mâché, painting, costume, props, and sewing.

It may be fair to think, after seeing a plethora of internet memes, that interest in birds is a pursuit limited only to the older generations. Bird People, with its highly experimental basis, is not just about getting older and smelling the air: it is a testament for anybody to have the confidence to throw the chaos of the artist's eye and varied levels of competent skills together into a cohesive body of work.