Whistling to be Heard

Beak open, feathers flared, the Whistling Kite cries out—mid-call, mid-warning. In Whistling to be Heard, Gina Kalabishis captures a raw and urgent moment: a solitary bird whose voice seems to rise above not just the canopy, but the encroaching silence of environmental loss.

Set against a rich understorey of moss and leaf, this painting conveys both strength and vulnerability. The Whistling Kite, a sentinel species of inland and coastal Australia, is here not merely observed but embodied—its feathered presence pushing beyond stillness into something pleading, almost defiant.

Excerpt from catalogue essay by Tim Dolby:

“Kalabishis’ paintings… are not solely ornamental; they exhibit signs of distress, displacement, and vulnerability. Their habitats… are rendered in desaturated tones, echoing the fading memory of what once was.”

This is a bird not content to vanish quietly. It whistles to be heard.