The Return of the Native

“‘The Return of the Native’ was released to accompany the exhibition of the same name at Pump House Gallery, London, in 2005. This small-format publication, resembling the old fashioned Ladybird book of birds, chronicles this particular body of work by British artist, Suky Best. Highlighting the gradual disappearance of hitherto common types of wildlife from their former habitats across the UK, Best’s work ‘The Return of the Native’ presents a series of vivid and disarming photographs and short video animations, through which she digitally reintroduces a number of birds and insects into landscapes where they were previously seen in significant numbers but where they are now virtually extinct. The slightly studied and stylised nature of each composition, in which the respective elements don’t quite fit together, elicits a vague but deceptively disquieting sense of loss. This book features an introductory essay by one of Britain’s best-known writers on birds and birdwatching, Stephen Moss author of Garden Birds (Collins) and Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching (Arum Press). A further essay, by the artist and writer Nicky Coutts, considers the themes and motifs of these new works in the context of Best’s broader artistic practice.” [Publisher’s statement].