108cm x 90cm. Coloured pencil on Fabriano Artistico cotton paper, mounted in relief.

On a visit to an animal sanctuary in Costa Rica, we came across this little guy. He’d been rescued from poachers and housed in an aviary alongside a number of other toucans of different species. People were free to wonder amongst them which they seemed not to mind at all. I would circle his perch to try to observe him from different angles, but with each movement I made, he’d simply follow me around to match my position, eyeballing me intensely with his head cocked at the same angle as he turned. I was very much aware of being scrutinised every bit as much as I was observing him with what seemed to be an equal amount of curiosity. There was the striking impression of an intelligence behind those eyes that I wanted to convey in this image aside from the obvious beauty of the creature. It left me with an unforgettable memory of a connection I felt I’d made and needed to put to paper.