In Sending Love to the Birds, fibre artist Caroline Hawkins brings five familiar Surf Coast birds into close encounter: the Purple Swamphen, Latham’s Snipe, Buff-banded Rail, Hooded Plover and Southern Emu-wren.  Created as H5 bird flu spreads through Australian wildlife, the series gives form to a shared concern that can otherwise feel distant and overwhelming.

Approached as individual portraits, Hawkins’ birds possess their own character and quiet vitality, while their presence evokes the wider life of each species and the ecological pressures threatening its future.  

The birds belong to the wetlands, heathlands and shoreline around us, including the Allen Noble Sanctuary and the Hooded Plover nesting sites watched over by volunteer guardians. Presenting them together, Hawkins asks us to recognise the vulnerability of those we share place with. The title carries the tenderness of a love letter and the lyricism of a poem, offering an invitation to pay attention, value what lives beside us and remain connected in a time of ecological uncertainty.

Each bird is created by lived observation, sketching, leading to 3D form, with wire armatures wrapped in reclaimed fabric, wool and twine retain the visible touch of the artist’s hand, linking ecological care with material care.

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From Saturday 19 September 2026.  Available for a few weeks.