A Home for Flickers - Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden
For the Birds

A Home for Flickers

Jessica Maffia
Acrylic and cement on Douglas fir
11 in. × 11.5 in. × 34 in.
Woodland Garden

A birdhouse painted with clouds and with sculptures of human hands sticking out of it.
A Home for Flickers birdhouse at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
A nest box painted with sky and clouds has three blue outstretched hands
Concept art by Jessica Maffia.

During lockdown, artist Jessica Maffia experienced her first spring bird migration. A Home for Flickers, a birdhouse made of Douglas fir and cement shaped in the form of her gently cupped hands, was inspired by Maffia’s desire to offer these birds sanctuary. “Birds remind us of the wild that persists here,” Maffia says. “It is our responsibility to create spaces for our more-than-human neighbors to thrive.”

  • A woman with curly brown hair stands in front of a wall adorned with pictures of birds

    Jessica Maffia (b. 1983, U.S.) is a visual artist born and raised in New York City. She works across a wide variety of media to celebrate the familiar and honor the natural world of the city through repetitive, meditative processes. Her work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and she is the recipient of numerous artist residency fellowships including at the Albee Foundation and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. She recently completed a permanent public installation for the Audubon Mural Project.

    Artist website: jessicamaffia.com
    Instagram: @jessicamaffia

Photo: Coco Hollings

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Devendra Banhart

This recording from The Birdsong Project was selected to complement this birdhouse.

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Logo: Warby Parker