No Bed of Feathers

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Artist: Saberah Malik

Title: No Bed of Feathers

Attribution: No Bed of Feathers. 2022. Saberah Malik

Year: 2020

Materials: Polyester fabrics, feathers

Dimensions: 16" H x 28" W x 20" D

Image Statement: From delicate or jewel encrusted peacocks of Mughal India to Edgar Alan Poe’s Raven, from Louis Bernier’s Birds Without Wings to our own national emblem of a majestic eagle, birds have represented particular identities at different epochs of human history, cultural paradigms and political thinking. Migratory birds whose habitats have been curtailed due to farming or urban expansion or hungry birds ravaging precious grain supplies begs the question, who is the predator, who the prey; who the oppressor, who the oppressed? Killed for consumption or caged for human entertainment, birds also symbolize human incarceration that is not necessarily behind bars, but an entrapment in prisons of poverty, abuse, lack of resources and opportunities for upward mobility or forward journeys