Finding Meaning in Feathers
By Joanne Tarlin | January 29, 2021
We can only speculate and wonder what the parrot-like petroglyphs in the North American Southwest, dated 5000 BC, or the ibis in Egyptian art, from 2000 BC, symbolized to their creators. We do know from later periods, cultures across the globe have attributed varied associations to them; from cranes and doves, to crows and eagles, birds have symbolized both the auspicious and the foreboding.
These works, created since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, were inspired by watching the many birds where I live soar, hunt, dive, stand in solitude, and flock together. They are drawings of fragility, relationships, confinement, and open spaces, and of tenacity and grace.
Joanne Tarlin, Safety in Numbers, No More, oil on paper, 30″x 22.5″ 2021
Joanne Tarlin, We are all Vulnerable, oil on paper, 30″x 22.5″ 2021
Copyright © 2021 Joanne Tarlin
Joanne Tarlin paints atmospheric, abstract, and Romantic landscapes. The natural environment around her new home in mid-coast Maine, is her font for visual stimulation. Her inspiration is personal, political, and philosophical.
Tarlin studied visual communications at The Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, in Los Angeles, from which she earned a BFA degree. She received her MFA degree from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University, in Boston. She is a member of the Union of Maine Visual Artists, and the National Association of Women Artists. She is represented by ArrayContemporary.com