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Gull junk art

Photo by Sarah Dukes

Discover why local artist Sarah Dukes chose to create giant gull sculptures for the Worcester Plinth...
A photo of a lady with brown hair wearing a red duffel coat standing next to a plinth with a seagull sculpture on top in the middle of a city centre with a cathedral behind

Photo by Sarah Dukes

My sculptures are inspired by the staggeringly vast and wonderful array of birds we have here in the UK, including noisy gulls! Growing up on the Suffolk coast, ‘seagulls’ were a familiar sight (and sound); it wasn’t until I moved to land-locked Worcester that I realised this colloquial nickname belies the several distinct species we have, including our herring, black-headed and lesser black-backed. My Junk Gull sculptures are a celebration of these opportunistic and brazen birds that strut along the High Street, perch on rooftops and swoop over the river. The collective feeling towards gulls tends to be negative and I wanted the chance to interrupt the narrative that gulls are a nuisance, and instead consider why is it that we have so many gulls in the first place - perhaps because we throw away so much food? And why gulls might sometimes behave aggressively - are they just being protective parents?

Both nature and art help people focus on their immediate sensory experiences, encouraging us to really notice what’s around us. Art can also strive to communicate the importance of protecting nature and our environment. The materials of my sculptures are all salvaged, diverted from landfill (old wire, hose, fruit nets, plastic strips from Kallaways), woven together to create form. I want the sculptures to be a reminder of the amount of waste we generate. The woven materials are a symbol of our interconnectedness with the natural world, our web of being, that we, as humans, are unravelling.

I have long admired how the Worcester Plinth enables art to be outside of a gallery space, taking it into a public arena for all to enjoy (more often than not a park or space surrounded by trees and plants). I wanted to be a part of this innovative project, especially because of the vast scale needed - my birds so far have been life-size (or thereabouts) and scaling up my sculptures has been an exciting challenge. Oliver Carpenter, originator and curator of The Worcester Plinth, has been a joy to work with: his enthusiasm and pragmatism has made the whole process a lot of fun and I’m continually impressed with the fantastic locations he manages to secure.  

A photo of sculptures of two gulls made of old wire standing on top of a large black plinth box with blue sky in the background

Photo by Sarah Dukes

I see several similarities between my sculptures and the birds: just as gulls are known for their ability to find food, whether by hunting or scavenging, I’ve been resourceful with waste materials, turning trash into something else. Gulls exploit immediate opportunities, which is why they are able to spread so successfully in previously unexploited habitats (like Worcester city centre, far away from what we would perceive as a gull’s traditional home, the seaside!) and I have been similarly opportunistic in exploiting rubbish to make art.  

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and welcoming, with Friends of Fort Royal Park even organising a community picnic to honour hosting the plinth.  Just as gulls engage in activities like chasing and diving, showing a playful side, I hope these gulls, created with a lighthearted creativity, continue to provoke amusement and joy.

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