bird, box & spindle

Pigeon: Leaving the Nest I: Cowardice

Pigeon/Leaving The Nest I: Cowardice, 1994

Drawing/Collage (24"x 24")
© Julie Lapalme
Private collection

 

bird: flight

The Carier Pigeon refers to a sense of uprootedness and unfettered travel. The message attached to the pigeon’s leg represents the ability for adoptees to narrate, in a manner, their own story: to invent their own flight-pattern. Lack of knowledge about birth history can be liberating, as there can be less family traditions to uphold, less expectations to fulfill. Yet even with a relatively ‘clean slate’, doubt and uncertainty about the past is bound to be a constant travel companion.

I can see patterns of restlessness and wanderlust in continuous travel, as the wayward and wayfarer search for a ‘lost’ identity. Perhaps people need emotional distance to see things clear, to digest and reflect away from the muddle, in a private space which travel can provide.

However, I do not think identity can be lost, as it is not outside of the self but within. Home is what you make of it and people other than family can assume these roles. Like the Homing Pigeon, I always return to what I think of as home.

Line

Family Tree  l  Pigeon: Cowardice  l  Cuckoo: Courage  l  Mme. Cowbird   l  L'Escalier Unique
Winding Staircase  l  House of my Own  l  L'Escalier qui monte