Inside the Studio

Gail Tarantino in residency at MacArthur Place

Artist Gail Tarantino wearing a green shirt and holding a paintbrush within a studio at MacArthur Place.

Created during her Uprise Art x MacArthur Place residency, Gail Tarantino's newest series explores birdsong through a mnemonic lens, chronicling the percussive and rhythmic sounds with overlapping text. Go behind the scenes of her one-week residency below.

A small vase with purple flowers next to a notebook in artist Gail Tarantino's studio at MacArthur Place.

Artist Gail Tarantino using a small paintbrush to mix acrylic paints on paper.

A blue, in-progress painting by artist Gail Tarantino with concealed lines of text.

Wanting to understand more about bird vocalization, I began looking at spectrograms that show the frequency of sound over time. To further understand the secret language of birds, I combed over a list of bird song mnemonics. Seeing what birds say phonetically, was helpful in sharpening my ear. Birds learn to sing through the process of vocal learning in ways that mirror how humans learn language, through listening, imitating, and practicing.
Gail Tarantino

Artist Gail Tarantino in residency at MacArthur Place in Sonoma, CA, holding one of her works above orange flowers.

Artist Gail Tarantino in residency at MacArthur Place in Sonoma, CA, holding one of her text-based works over orange flowers.

Threaded words on canvas by artist Gail Tarantino created during her MacArthur Place residency.

Approaching the series through a mnemonic lens, chronicling the percussive and rhythmic sounds with overlapping text, I’ve created a form of bird song syntax. Additionally, using a palette heavily influenced by the plumage of each bird species, sparks my own memory and knowledge of bird life, by making a visually innovative, oversized field guide.
Gail Tarantino