Connie Long

“Uplifting”

Statement

The spring and summer of 2020 brought social isolation and a halt to human travel. But our yard was full of singing, hungry birds that had flown hundreds of miles to fulfill their annual migration. It was uplifting to imagine our home as an air B&B and refuge where these feathered wonders could drink and eat and rest before they proceeded to their breeding and nesting destinations. 

It was this image of Home that prompted my art piece.

Materials: wood cube, found bird’s nest, twigs, hemp cord, tiny Seri basket with sunflower seeds, collaged images from calendars and catalogs, recycled red metal bird’s legs

NFS

Artist Bio

Builder of home and family, wood toymaker, keeper of the keys

Artist Notes

Below are links to projects and resources that I learned about or drew inspiration from for this piece:

Red Knots – A Cultural Cartography of a Migratory Bird’s Annual Journey: theredknotsproject.org

Cornell Lab of Ornithology- we believe in the power of birds to ignite discovery and inspire action: birds.cornell.edu

Center for Native Peoples and the Environment- bringing together the two traditions of traditional ecological knowledge with scientific ecological knowledge: esf.edu

Syracuse Cultural Workers is a progressive publisher whose mission is to nourish communities that honor diversity and creative expression, and inspire movements for justice, equality and liberation while respecting our Earth and all its beings. A unique catalog where each year I order the Women’s Datebook and where I first heard about Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: syracuseculturalworkers.com

Podcasts I love and return to for sustenance and balance:
On Being – https://onbeing.org/

Hidden Brain – https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain