House of Crow by Kris Estreich, 2022

House of Crow, audio description, duration 3 minutes

The title of this artwork is House of Crow by Kris Estreich made in 2022. It is a found object assemblage, a type of sculpture created by combining different objects. It is made from wood, ink, pens, plastic, and artificial greenery. The overall dimensions are 79.5 centimetres high, 35 centimetres wide and 19 centimetres deep.

The sculpture features a realistic looking life-sized plastic crow. The bird has black plumage, a straight beak, and bright white eyes. It is perched with its wings closed and body leaning forwards so that its back is flat and beak pointed downward. Shallow grooves define the details of the crow’s short body feathers and long tail feathers.

Positioned in the middle of the crow’s back is a small house surrounded by artificial greenery, which also covers the crow’s feet. The house is green with a pitched brown roof. Cut-out windows and doorways that are round, arched or rectangular appear on each side.

The crow stands on a rectangular wooden pedestal measuring 56 centimetres high and 14 centimetres square. The pedestal’s four sides are covered with detailed hand-drawn images in black pen with subtle blue-purple shading. Two sides have drawings of a crow with two long feathers below angled in opposite directions, referencing the Australian royal coat of arms. Another side depicts two crows perched above a white jagged shape with black silhouettes of trees behind it. The final side is dominated with the black silhouette of a tree with intricate foliage and a vertical column of four round holes, which goes down the centre of the side.

The artist created the work as her own royal house in response to the sense of distance she felt watching the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022 from Australia. The crow is an iconic, though sometimes maligned, Australian bird that is deeply ingrained in both urban landscapes and Indigenous cultures. Elevated on a pedestal carrying the small house that suggests both a crown and a portable home, the sculpture explores ideas of freedom, mobility, and sovereignty.

Kris Estreich is a mixed-media artist based in Logan, whose dynamic practice embraces assemblage, sculpture, handmade paper, drawing, painting, and collage. With a deep curiosity for experimentation, she explores the evocative themes of home and habitat, the symbiotic relationship between nature and animals, and the spiritual connections to place amid habitat loss and environmental change.

This artwork is courtesy of the Logan Art Collection.

Kris Estreich, House of Crow, 2022, wood, ink, pens, plastic and artificial greenery, 79.5 x 35 x 19 cm
Logan Art Gallery Collection. Image courtesy Logan Art Gallery