Kathryn Spence

I couldn't help but go "oh, my gosh" when I saw these life size sculptures made by Kathryn Spence. The owls are created with all the fabric scraps from her own wardrobe, clothing from thrift stores and beanie babies! She thinks strongly about recycling what we already have creating new with it.

"A lot of the clothes were my clothes—coats or pants. I liked the ones that looked sort of natural—like herringbone for the back of the great horned owls. I started ripping up some of my clothes, whatever seemed like an owl to me. There is so much stuff; there's no reason to use new stuff. I feel like I'm helping in some kind of absurd way."

In an interview with Lisa Owens Viani the artist explained her love and reason for choosing owls as her subject in her work: "There’s something about owls that just fascinates me. In a way I made them because it was a way for me to have more access to them. Since they are wild birds, I wanted to leave them alone, just look at them from far away and be aware of them, but not destroy habitat or bother them. Making them is my way of reaching them—and for other people to have access to them. It’s not about having an owl; that would be awful. But it was interesting to me to think about bringing these wild things inside—through my pieces—so that people could be with them." Kathryn pays special attention to positioning of these creatures so they appear close to "the way you see them in the wild."

Now I am dying to see her show. I am sure her owls will more magnificent than they look in these pictures.