Recently, I chatted with one of my friends who is a falconer about how predatory birds are being threatened in the wild due to illegal poaching and habitat destruction. Inspired by her story, I decided to combine my passions for printmaking and sculpture to create this piece. "Nature Captive" uses layered transparencies to force the viewer to only be able to see the American Kestrel falcon from one angle of its wooden cage. The inability to see the bird from other sides of the cage symbolizes how from the perspectives of illegal poachers and companies that destroy forest environments, wildlife is trivial and replaceable. But it's not. 

The bird displayed here is Kito, my friend's first falcon. As viewers who can see the falcon in its entirety, we the public must stand up for the preservation of nature reserves and help falcons maintain their historical symbolism of triumph over injustice.

Wood, metal hooks, fishing line, transparencies, linoleum relief prints, wooden dowels. 2018.