The history, culture, and lifestyle of urban pigeons

The Flock: Junior Studies in material and textile manipulation

A woman with long, braided hair on a dark background, wearing colorful clothing, gold jewelry, and posing confidently.
A young woman with blonde hair wearing a sleeveless gray shirt and patterned shorts, standing against a black background, with her hands on her head.
A woman walking on stage, wearing a sheer, glittery black top with a blue sculpted chest piece, and dark jeans, against a black background.
A woman with curly hair smiling and looking over her shoulder, wearing colorful jewelry, fluffy earrings, and a jacket with decorative pins, against a dark background.
Female model walking on runway wearing a pink and blue floral dress with denim top
Person wearing a large, colorful, abstract patterned shawl or cape on stage.

Screen printing & AI ‘art’

A collection of tattoo flash art featuring various symbols and images such as a tornado, star, skull and crossbones, butterfly, flowers, a smartphone, an eye within a globe, a bottle with the word "SEX," a mask, a hand, a lottery ticket, and various abstract and decorative elements.

In the era of first generation generative AI, there is a large emphasis on AI’s ability to generate artwork that is similar to human creation. However, consumers have shown that they strongly prefer the creative abilities of real people.

Artwork combining binary code, circuit lines, human-made artwork elements such as a flower, a star, and a diamond, with quotes about human intelligence and art.
Collection of hand-drawn symbols including a bird, handcuffs, a laptop, a cloud with lightning, a pentagram, a book, boxing gloves, a smartphone, a silhouette of a person, and floral decorations, with the phrase "Fight A.I." written below.
Gray sleeveless shirt with black and gray textured fabric, featuring the word 'PARTY' in colorful letter patches on a black oval background.

Combining elements of American traditional tattooing, icons of the AI age, and quotes related to dissatisfaction of AI consumers I created a pair of repeating prints that I screen printed on to fleece fabric using Illustrator, hand drawing, and UV emulsion screen printing.

Using patchwork techniques popular in urban punk subcultures, I created a custom collaged graphic t-shirt featuring additional screen printing.

Young woman with blonde hair, wearing a sleeveless gray top and patterned shorts, adjusting her hair on stage with a black background.
Young woman on stage wearing a crop top and shorts, pointing to her shirt with a confident expression.
A young woman with blonde hair wearing oversized black sunglasses, a sleeveless cropped gray shirt, and white pants with black abstract designs, standing against a black background.

In an effort to capture the flowing and iridescent nature of pigeon feathers, I worked with acrylic resin, tulle, and a plastic mannequin form. The chestplate was attached to the body with scrap glass forms from a local artisan, reflecting the scavenger nature of the urban birds.

Acrylic resin & draped forms

A pencil sketch of a woman with curly hair, wearing bell-bottom pants and a striped top, smiling and raising one hand. The sketch includes a note that says 'Happy New Year 24'.
Pair of denim jeans with back pockets, placed on a gray towel on a beige surface.
A person wearing glasses and a colorful face mask with a cartoon face design is working on a white object, possibly a piece of furniture or a model, in an indoor workshop with wooden ceiling beams.
A woman walking on a runway wearing high-heeled shoes with white fur trim, dark pants, and a sheer top with a large painted graphic on the front.
A woman walking on stage with light-colored high-heeled shoes and fur-lined pants cuffs, wearing a shimmering top with long sleeves, and her long blonde hair flowing down her back against a dark background.

Paired with a dark wash denim from a deastock retailer and trimmed with ostrich feather.

Woman walking on stage wearing a shiny, transparent top with a black corset underneath, black pants, and earrings.

Draping hemlines

A woman walks on a runway wearing a pink and blue floral dress with high heels.
A woman walking on a stage wearing a sleeveless, multi-layered floral dress with a high-low hemline, clear high heels, and jewelry.
A woman wearing a denim top and a flowy red and green dress with floral patterns, holding the dress out to the sides.
A person holding two colorful, hand-painted birds modeled after real birds, with vibrant yellow, green, and pink feathers, in each hand against a blue textured shirt background.

Photos by Amparo for The Guardian (2014)

Inspired by the practice of hand-painting Spanish racing pigeons this dress combines bold magenta and teal contrasted with a rugged denim. Featuring an asymmetric handkerchief hemline with ruffled trimming and an open back design.

A large group of colorful pigeons with vibrant feathers, mainly black, green, red, yellow, and blue, gathered close together.

Nested in EMBELLISHMENT

Pigeons are famous for creating unique and minimalistic nests when in urban environments, taking from everything around them. Using this philosophy, I designed two outfits using denim and embellished them with jetsam I collected on my college campus.

A fashion sketch of a woman in a patchwork jacket, short fluffy skirt, high boots, and carrying a handbag, with a smaller sketch of a dress next to her.
A person with curly short hair wearing a colorful floral dress, a denim jacket decorated with bows and jewelry, and fluffy earrings, smiling with eyes closed against a gray brick wall.

Pigeons are creatures of community and thrive in flocks. In response to the bright pink of the pervious outfit I created a neutral look to pair, combining techniques from both outfits.

A dress form wearing a halter-style dress with a large floral print in pink, red, and green. The dress has a keyhole cutout in the front. The dress form has a flower accessory around its neck. The background includes a window with vertical blinds and some art supplies.
A woman dressed in colorful and eclectic fashion, posing confidently on stage with mannequin dress forms in the background.
A young woman with curly hair, wearing a colorful floral dress, pink fishnet stockings, and a denim jacket decorated with ribbons and pins, smiling and looking at the camera.
A woman in colorful, bold fashion poses on stage against a black background, wearing a floral dress, patterned tights, and high heels.
A woman wearing a patterned top with orange sleeves, accessorized with jewelry, standing confidently with one arm behind her head against a black background.
Fashion sketch of a woman standing confidently, wearing stylish high heels, a skirt, and a layered top, with various accessories and detailed clothing patterns.
A woman walking on a runway wearing a colorful, patterned sleeveless top, a black skirt with embellishments, a tan ruffled underskirt, strappy heels, and accessorized with jewelry and orange fur cuffs.
A woman with long braided hair wearing a colorful patterned top, layered necklaces, earrings, and a brown skirt with embroidered details, standing against a black background.

illustrative reality

After spending a semester studying the beauty of plein air watercolor illustration, I wanted to complete a larger tapestry exploring mixed media painting.

Abstract art painting of three pigeons with black, grey, and white feathers and orange and red eyes, set against a grey background.

Using watercolor and acrylic paints, oil pastels, ink, metallic transfer foil, tinsel, and spray enamel colors I collaged images I had taken while exploring the pigeons in New York City, Toronto, and Detroit

Colorful painting of five birds with gold and orange eyes against a pink and purple background.
A large canvas features an abstract, sketch-like drawing of a toucan bird, with the outline of the bird's head, beak, and body, some parts shaded in gray.
A surreal, abstract painting with swirling black, gray, and gold colors, resembling a canyon or vortex, and a tree with gold and silver leaves on the right side.
A person seen from behind is holding a large, flowing fabric with a detailed, artistic wolf face print on it, performing on a dark stage.
A person wearing a colorful, printed wrap with abstract and artistic patterns, standing against a black background.
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