Birds are the wildest creatures that live amongst us in our human environment and they also, by means of flight, symbolize the cerebral realm of our experience. In melding the imagery of a woman and a bird I am expressing a connection that I feel between the biological and the spiritual realms, which exist in each of us, without referencing the sexuality of the female body. 
  Although this sculpture is preceded by sirens, harpies (much nastier than this benign creature) and the Egyptian spirit Ba, it also owes something to the sculptural style of artists like Degas and Rodin and Jean Luc Carpeaux. As well, it is inspired by my own experiences of art and dance, being a woman in an urban environment and the challenges of family life.