Lucy Stevens – Colour Coded Birds Exhibition

We’ve been following the journey of Leicester-based artist Lucy Stevens, as she prepares to present a new body of work, reinterpreting Leicester Museum’s natural science collection. Lucy explores creative methods for cataloguing British bird skin specimens using a diverse collection of bird specimens grouped together by colour, alongside Lucy’s contemporary artworks.

Leicester Museums describes how the

“Bird skin collection inspired Lucy to create new 2D and 3D artworks that use intense colour combinations. Artworks included within the exhibition combine photography of the bird skins on display with Lucy’s signature instinctive mark marking”

The work presented in this exhibition, inspired by the bird collection, includes “symbols and gestures to interpret research about bird conservation using different shapes, lines and colour palettes.” Lucy concentrated on “colour systems used within The Highway Code and weather symbols to influence her.”

By reinterpreting the catalogue information, Lucy challenges traditional narratives on how natural history collections and specimens are viewed, with an emphasis on the importance of demonstrating “their value to conservation, education and the arts.”

The exhibition runs until March 2022 at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery, 53 New Walk, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 7EA.