My father has kept songbirds most of his life. I saw them in my parents' home since childhood, but the birds didn't interest me much at that time. Small and fearful, they started fluttering around the cage at any attempt to approach them. Observing them now it's hard not to notice our similarities and how often we are harsh with those we love due to our own inexperience or thoughtlessness. I think about how people treat animals, each other and themselves. Our relationships are often based on exploitation and power, when they should be built on respect and recognition. It’s important for me to show in my work not only this obvious side of human-animal relationships, but also to convey the strange and controversial combination of feelings and actions of my father towards the birds: love, tenderness, and care on one side, and power and oppression on the other. I also want to emphasize the duality of his position, as both the oppressor and the oppressed simultaneously. The person who exercises power by putting a bird in a cage, depriving it of freedom and dignity, is himself just a part of a vast system (social, governmental) that also frightens, suppresses, and deprives him of something. We often balance between power and vulnerability, roles intersect and change and it's not always possible to clearly place ourselves in a specific category. I think about the reasons for such behavior, the importance of empathy, respect, and responsibility, and the need to rethink the position and value of both humans and animals. I also wonder about possibility or impossibility of changing not only individual behavior but also the social practices and structures that support and perpetuate oppression.