Kate Hudson - 'Birdwatching'

Wednesday 21 November - Sunday 16 December 2018

"When I came to live in Australia 28 years ago, I was not particularly interested in birds. I grew up in London with the blackbird, the grey pigeon and the brown sparrow.

I was seduced by the brightness of the light here, the largeness of the skies and the rainbow colours of the parrots, it was all so exotic. My interest in birdwatching had begun and I started to notice the quiet beauty of the smaller birds, the ones who are always there when you are out walking in the bush. You hear them and see their silhouettes against the sky and, if you do not make too much noise, you might be lucky and have a close encounter with some of them.

I used to be quite strict about the birds I included in my prints, they had to have visited my garden. I got bored, admittedly, waiting for some of them to show up - so I broadened the criteria to include my local neighbourhood and sometimes exercised artistic license when there was a bird I loved who would never be seen this far south.

In making my work I draw influence from the Arts & Crafts movement, Art Nouveau, Japanese woodblocks and my background in textile design. I made the round Owl series in response to the Hokusai exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria."