EMPTY NESTS

In Empty Nests, Clare Ross examines the human tendency to dismantle the natural world and reconstruct it according to our own ideas of beauty.

Ross begins with abandoned birds' nests, photographing each before carefully taking it apart. She records and arranges the individual components, revealing the extraordinary complexity of structures built for a specific purpose. She then paints and reassembles the materials, creating elaborate constructions that retain the appearance of nests but have lost their original function.

The resulting photographs present objects that are visually appealing but fundamentally useless. In transforming structures that were already perfectly suited to their purpose, Ross draws a parallel with the ways humans reshape natural environments, often replacing intricate, functioning systems with aesthetically pleasing arrangements that no longer sustain the life they once supported.