Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Passenger Pigeon

Copied Laurel Roth Hope, Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Passenger Pigeon, 2008, suit: cotton, silk, bamboo, wool, and acrylic blended yarn mannequin: basswood, acrylic paint, gouache, glass, pewter, and walnut, 17 x 8 x 9 in. (43.2 x 20.3 x 22.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, 2013.76.1A-B, © 2008, Laurel Roth Hope

Artwork Details

Title
Biodiversity Reclamation Suit: Passenger Pigeon
Artist
Date
2008
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
17 x 8 x 9 in. (43.2 x 20.3 x 22.9 cm)
Copyright
© 2008, Laurel Roth Hope
Credit Line
Gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser
Mediums
Mediums Description
suit: cotton, silk, bamboo, wool, and acrylic blended yarn mannequin: basswood, acrylic paint, gouache, glass, pewter, and walnut
Classifications
Subjects
  • Animal — bird — pigeon
Object Number
2013.76.1A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2013.76.1A-B

Artwork Description

Before embarking on a career in the arts, Laurel Roth Hope worked as both a park ranger and a natural-resource conservator. Her time spent protecting and restoring habitats inspired a body of work that examines the adaptive abilities of some species versus others. In Biodiversity Reclamation Suits for Urban Pigeons, the artist crochets “sweaters” that mimic the plumage of extinct or endangered bird species. Despite their humor and charm, these works force us to confront the futility of recovering lost biodiversity. Roth Hope displays each suit on a hand-carved pigeon mannequin as a reminder that the animals we most revile are often the ones capable of surviving in a human-made environment.


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