Sightings: Bird Journals 2021-2026
Kacy McKinney
8/24/26 – 12/18/26
1st & 2nd Floor Gallery, Science & Engineering Building (VSCI)
This collection of twenty works in pencil, watercolor, pastel, pen & ink, and charcoal offers a sampling of my drawings and paintings of birds from 2021 to 2026. During that time I was learning not only to identify birds, but also to translate the sense of awe I felt in watching them into my work. In my drawings and paintings, I am documenting a moment and a feeling, as well as detailed information about a bird species. With my grid drawings, I am interested in telling a story about a series of birds present on a particular day in a particular place. As reference for my work, I use photos that I have taken, taxidermy, found photos, textbooks, and my field sketches.
Kacy McKinney (she/they) is a visual artist, an independent scholar, and an avid birder living in Portland, Oregon. She is Artist-Scholar in Residence at the Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative at Portland State University. She has served on the Board of Directors of Sisters of the Road, and the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC). Kacy holds a Ph.D. in Human Geography from the University of Washington, a Masters in Latin American Studies and Bachelors in Portuguese from the University of Texas Austin. She completed the Comics Portfolio Program at the IPRC in 2019.