Silently Stirring

What Stirs?

Animals and magical beings are favourite subjects for many artists because they provide endless inspiration for the imagination.

Can you find the cat in Lionel Lindsay’s Siesta twitch its ear and restlessly wave its tail? One of Timothy Akis’s birds stretches its wings in flight, while the other creeps along the ground. Have you noticed the piercing eyes of Lesbia Thorpe’s Barn owls? Don’t look now but they are watching you as you read this text.

Just around the corner, a koala blinks, budgerigars are unpeeling, a wooden figure stands small but tall, and a giant rabbit’s nose twitches and sniffs. Find out all that stirs but remember, they may seem playful and even cute but an artist has carefully created them with meaning and purpose so things may be different than they first appear.

Jumping, leaping, flying, swimming

Most of the time, art doesn’t move … or does it? Observing the movement of an animal is easy, but how does an artist capture the motion of an animal?

Find Apu kaz, the baby dugong, as it floats and swims, and Ottomar Anschütz’s monkeys as they balance and climb along branches. Famous photographer, Harold Edgerton has beautifully captured owls flying and a dog leaping. Prints by David Rose allow us to hear the buzz of dragonflies and feel the heat of the Australian bush.

Think about how you might draw your pet walking, a fly flying, a dog barking or a horse drinking. How would you do it?

Choose an artwork from below and click through to find a fun activity.

Transforming ourselves and the objects around us

Some mystical beings can transform themselves into animals. We can do the same with the help of masks. When we put on a mask, we can change into the animal or being that the mask represents.

Ken Thaiday Snr Beizam (shark) dance mask transforms the person who wears it into an underwater creature. Papua New Guinean artists, Timothy Akis and Barnabus India, have created exciting prints inspired by the spirit beings and masks used by their people.

Through the creative process, artists can transform materials into amazing objects. Can you find two parrots chatting? In Chatting up, Rosalie Gascoigne has used materials she has found to create a work of art. Vivienne Pengilley also used recycled materials for her colourful work Tapestry lady bird (Triantiwontigong).