Flying Colors is an installation by Debra Ramsay that evokes the visual experience of birdwatching. Tracking various species that migrate through New York City over the course of a year, Ramsay creates small abstract paintings that record three distinct plumage colors from each bird. Painted on translucent acrylic panels, the colors seem to flicker and change as the viewer moves through the gallery space, animating the works. Capturing the ephemeral nature of birds in flight, the paintings also hint at their vulnerability in the face of climate change.
Debra Ramsay is a New York-based artist who uses color to portray the passage of time. For this project, she has relied on data from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which will provide illustrations and recorded birdsongs for the species included. A fully-illustrated catalog will accompany the exhibition.