Susie MacMurray British, b. 1959

Susie MacMurray’s ‘Murmur' is constructed of ostrich feather barbs bound together in pairs with thread, their tips sealed with wax. Suspended out from the wall on piano wire with fishhooks, it ‘takes flight’ across the space. It’s like an ephemeral drawing in space, interacting with its own shadows and hovering just off the wall. It reacts gently with the movement of people, like a kind of musical expression – a gesture of uplift, release and fragile joy.

The title relates to murmurations of starlings grouped together and the unconscious communication that must go on between them. It’s about whispers of fairy tales, secrets, murmurs, rumours and underlying thoughts.