Close view of a pale plaster bird sculpture from Bristol Birds, installed beside the River Avon at Paintworks in Bristol. — BRISTOL BIRDS

Sculptural witnesses to the changing city — weathered, tidal, and quietly alive.

Bristol Birds (2012–2019) stand quietly by the River Avon, watching the city shift around them. Made from plaster, straw and metal, they hold stillness amid movement as buildings rise and fall, bridges are built and restored, and tides come and go.
Weathered by mud and tide, the birds absorb the elements. Over time, the plaster becomes an emergent microhabitat, gradually colonised by mosses and algae that transform the sculpture into a living surface, gathering colour, insects, and small habitats.

Bristol Birds before weathering, 2014

Bristol Birds after weathering, 2016

Bristol Birds beside the River Avon, Paintorks,2014

Weathered surface of Bristol Birds, 2016

Bristol Birds, 2012
Plaster, straw, metal, natural elements
Site: River Avon, Temple Meads and St Philips Greenway, Bristol UK