The act of drawing and collaging is a form of intuitive notetaking that then becomes a retracing of thoughts
when applied to canvas. I aim to portray the familiar in ways I feel I have not yet seen; relatable objects take on
new identities, complicated within the painting process. I give emphasis to the “small beings”, the subordinate,
the banal, as memory mixes with utopian visions.

Canaries have appeared in many of my past works. I began drawing the figure in childhood when my family had
one as a pet. They are both loners and survivors, watching scenes play out with no autonomy over their life,
while standing in as a friend, an ally or even a witness. Reimagining the little bird unfurling differently over time;
here the figures of the yellow canary are depicted at various stages of experience, ghostlike.

Looking at the title,Adorn references both the song by Miguel and the verb itself, evolving into a proper name
for the creature on the canvas. Adorn is a real, curing being that receives the German description Muskelvogel or
muscle bird. W earing a white shirt with a crudely drawn outline of a ten pack, the creature’s anatomical strength
is built through playful, graphic layers. The humor of its form extends to its sleeves, where three fingers
comically stripe out a witty take on branding (could be adidas stripes). Adorn trades fragile nature for a
monumental, subverted presence.

This presence exists within a strict painterly architecture. There is a sharp tension between the blue iridescent
parts that appear watery and light, directly opposing a stringent abstract brick red wall. This material tension
expands through the parts of silver and gold, but also a play between lines that come alive within a play of light
by something that could be a depicted candle. On the lower part of the canvas, some drops of paint float from
right to left, breaking the structure. It is where light and dark blue water drops touch that the work directly
comments on control versus coincidence, opening up broader themes of calculation, manipulation, and the
performance of masculinity.

- Stefanie Heinze