"Incarcerated for two decades himself, Rivera draws on the concept of recidivism and the derogatory term for someone who's habitually imprisoned. He invokes a sort of cyclical migration pattern that entraps people and returns them to carceral facilities again and again. The titles of the works-"Jailbird #12″ and "Jailbird #13," for example-similarly nod to the dehumanization of the penal system, which refers to people as numbers rather than their names."
"Given their ability to fly, birds are often symbols of freedom, with a special status reserved for the eagle as the national emblem of strength and pride in the U.S. On the other hand, fowl are also kept in cages when domesticated or bred for consumption or commercial use, making the creatures an apt representation of incarceration. In Jailbirds, Rivera presents parrots, herons, pelicans, pigeons, and others in architectural environments teeming with activist imagery."
Jailbirds presents mixed-media collages that map prison cells onto wood panels and position avian species as central figures. Rivera draws on two decades of incarceration and the concept of recidivism to portray cyclical returns to carceral facilities and the dehumanizing practice of numbering people. Birds serve as dual symbols of freedom and captivity, from eagles as national emblems to domesticated fowl in cages. Each cell incorporates magazines, newspapers, protest signs, archival footage, and clipped social media text to transform austere interiors into sites of world-building, survival, and imaginative possibility.
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