Kestrels

“Kestrels,” six-layer screenprint using water-based ink on Legion Stonehenge White 100% cotton archival paper, 12”x18”

Until recently, scientific perspective on homosexuality in the animal kingdom labeled it unnatural, not common - at best a display of dominance, at worst an abhorrent crime against nature, unworthy of study. As our social and cultural attitudes around human sexuality change, so too has our scientific lens become more open to studying these behaviors in nature. As a result of this shifting perspective, scientific “truth” itself has changed as recent research shows that not only are these behaviors quite common and natural, but also seem beneficial for some species in individual and communal ways. This artwork is in conversation with changing scientific, cultural, and aesthetic perspectives on what is natural and what is beautiful. In “Kestrels,” I’ve chosen to illustrate in two-point perspective the documented case of two female American Kestrels in Texas observed exhibiting pairing and copulating behavior over a five-week period in 2020. I chose a female bird pairing specifically in response to popular ideals that male birds are more beautiful, which has often resulted in male birds portrayed and focused on more and female birds sometimes ignored or seen as lesser (though there are many trying to challenge this too). I wanted to use this artwork to address not only visual perspective but also cultural, personal, and communal perspectives that affect how and what we see as beautiful, natural, important, or worthy of study.