'Alcatraz' 2020
48" x 84"
Wood, enamel, acrylic & yarn
The name "albatross" is derived from the Arabic al-qādūs or al-ḡaṭṭās (a pelican; literally, "the diver"), which traveled to English via the Portuguese form alcatraz ("gannet"), which is also the origin of the name of the former prison Alcatraz.
Albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, and species of the genus Diomedea (great albatrosses) have the longest wingspans of any extant birds, reaching up to 3.7 m (12 ft). Albatrosses are the most efficient travelers of all vertebrates on the planet. They expend very little energy soaring hundreds of miles over the ocean each day using dynamic soaring and slope soaring. They have a tendon in each shoulder locking their wings extended fully, so once aloft and soaring across a fair breeze, they never need to flap their wings.
Photos courtesy Will Crooks.
