The watchers, 2020, (hold the stone until it drops) oil on wood panel

Her paintings, drawings and sculptures depict the explosive energy of the avian world of rural Norfolk where her studio is now based. A flash of light, feathers, beaks; a vortex of vitality, blood, life and death. She paints birds of the wetlands and hinterlands, magisterial swans, herons and raptors. Stonebridge’s paintings can’t contain this energy – when exhibited, they become bird-like, prone to flight. Displayed in choreographed arrangements, they teeter on their edges, pinioned and as poised as bondage performers. Like a flock frozen in space, Stonebridge’s painting-assemblages react intuitively to their neighbours and the architectural environment that they inhabit. On display, these works are complete: they are avian exhibitionists.