Papa Charlie’s Ducks

Papa Charlie was a miner in Polkemmet Pit, West Lothian. After retiring due to a mining accident, he began making wooden mechanical ducks for each of his nine step-children; two of which still fly today in the garden of my Gran and Papa’s mining cottage, despite Charlie having passed almost 2 decades ago; representing the long standing impact of his creativity and generosity, characteristics at the fore front of conversations about him. Continuing from previous projects about canaries in the coal mine, the work focusses on the significance of birds within mining communities, and alternative productions of power, from Coal to Wind.