OREXART. Oedipus Rex Gallery. Auckland, New Zealand.

JANE SIDDALL The Bird Wife 15 September - 3 October 2009
Read TJ McNamara's review of this show for the New Zealand Herald here.
Some Sweet Day boxed embroidery triptych 41 x 70 x 1.7 cm
Textile artist Jane Siddall’s intricate needlework uses jewel-like colour and precise drawing skills to portray fairy tale women who metamorphose from ordinary domestic wives and mothers into wild birds. The finished pieces are set into ornate hand-made boxes that hide the subversive story away until you open them up to reveal the fairy tale within. Siddall’s take on embroidery echoes a return to guild-based arts around the world and is drawing international interest. It has been an immensely satisfying new direction for Jane, whose early art training was a BA in drawing and tapestry at Edinburgh University in the legendary Dovecote Studios, which at that time was the only place in world to offer tapestry studies. This is Jane’s first solo show in New Zealand. The collection of embroidered works and drawings represent almost a year of painstaking effort.
Raven Wild boxed embroidery triptych 41 x 70 x 1.7 cm	Cloth of Honour boxed embroidery triptych 55 x 90 x 3 cm
Hunting, Hiding boxed embroidery triptych 55 x 90 x 3 cm	Gone boxed embroidery triptych 55 x 90 x 3 cm
Artist statement These images are based on fairy stories - they’re based primarily on a folk tale that is re-told in many cultures around the world. In the story, a hunter surprises a flock of beautiful women bathing in a pool with their feather garments cast off on the ground. He steals a cloak and startles the flock of birdwomen, who grab their garments and fly away – all except the one woman whose cloak he has stolen. He takes her home to be his wife but one day she tricks her husband into revealing where he has hidden the cloak and she flies away. I love this story because so many cultures have a retelling of it. I also like the way the story can only be revealed when you open the box; it’s a practical way of protecting the work from New Zealand’s harsh sunlight as well. The embroideries show the two sides of the woman’s character - the fearful creature at home trying to live life as something she is not, and also the feisty creature who retains the aggressive characteristics of a bird.
The Bird Wife boxed embroidery triptych 74 x 104 x 3 cm	Good Bird Gone Bad boxed embroidery triptych 46 x 107 x 3 cm
The above works are only a selection of those exhibited
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