Tucson artist Kate Breakey found her calling one day in 1995 when a bird she tried to rescue died in her hand, leaving her moved and fascinated by her closeness to the creature’s final moment. By photographing it and, later, more birds, as well as reptiles and flora found dead in situ, then hand-coloring the large-format prints, Breakey found a way to explore the subtle side of mortality while giving lasting dignity to the left-behind shell of each life taken. It’s a peculiar medium that became a continuing project and even a pair of art monographs, all under the title of Small Deaths.
Breakey’s semi-scientific treatment seemed fitting for an exhibit hosted by the University of Colorado Art Museum (which remains in exile through 2009 while CU constructs its new visual-arts complex) at the school’s still-standing Museum of Natural History, located on campus in the Henderson Building. The show opens there tonight with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m.; Breakey will speak afterward in the Paleontology Hall.
Small Deaths continues through May 16; go to www.colorado.edu/cuart-museum or call 303-492-8003.
April 25-May 9, 2008
