Bird Years

Bringing together works from the last eight years, Bird Years, is a solo exhibition by Western Australian artist Anna Louise Richardson. The show considers how birds have woven their presence through significant moments in the artist’s life.
 
The exploration of the human–animal connection is a thread that runs deeply through Anna’s practice. Working from a farm in regional WA, her artworks take a radically optimistic lens on the everyday, using animals as stand in subjects to reflect on human experience. 
 
‘Hope is the thing with feathers’, a sentiment expressed by Emily Dickinson, quietly suggests that birds have always existed as soulful messengers. Appearing as signs, guides and reflections, they are symbolic beings that can be seen as living between worlds. For Anna these feathered companions evoke an awareness of the cycles of life and death, and the adaptability and vitality of nature to make the most of the conditions we are in. 



Working primarily with charcoal and graphite on cement fibreboard, Anna creates drawings that blend realism with stylised elements, such as enlarged scale, flattened perspectives, and cut-out shapes, to heighten the emotional impact of familiar animals.
 
Each work in the exhibition carries a narrative that resonates on a personal, spiritual, and emotional level, delving into themes of parenthood, family, and connection to place.

View the exhibition catalogue here.

Anna Louise Richardson
Bird Years
22 May – 22 August 2026

Presented as a pop-up exhibition at Lawson Flats, Perth.

Exhibition open by appointment
Please contact hello@lawsonflats.com or 08 9382 4488