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Paul Shires
A Cage Is No Shelter
Linnet Cage, Ceramic Frog, Eggs, Bone
Dimensions: 6, 21, 10
Artist’s statement
A linnet cage is a small, traditional bird enclosure historically used to keep the linnet—a small, melodious British finch—as a singing pet. It symbolizes confinement, oppression, and the yearning for freedom.
This analogy may be applied to any animal or human where the cage implies shelter but is a prison.
I have used a frog so the viewer my think; “why is a frog in a cage” and I answer, “why would you keep any living thing in a cage?”
A plea for shelter is a plea for liberation.
All purchased artworks must remain in the exhibition until 12pm on 29 November 2026.
Artworks can be collected between 12pm and 6pm on 29 November 2026, or between 10am and 4pm on 30 November 2026.
For every £1 spent with SUSSEX contemporary, 70p goes directly to the artist.
Paul Shires
A Cage Is No Shelter
Linnet Cage, Ceramic Frog, Eggs, Bone
Dimensions: 6, 21, 10
Artist’s statement
A linnet cage is a small, traditional bird enclosure historically used to keep the linnet—a small, melodious British finch—as a singing pet. It symbolizes confinement, oppression, and the yearning for freedom.
This analogy may be applied to any animal or human where the cage implies shelter but is a prison.
I have used a frog so the viewer my think; “why is a frog in a cage” and I answer, “why would you keep any living thing in a cage?”
A plea for shelter is a plea for liberation.
All purchased artworks must remain in the exhibition until 12pm on 29 November 2026.
Artworks can be collected between 12pm and 6pm on 29 November 2026, or between 10am and 4pm on 30 November 2026.
For every £1 spent with SUSSEX contemporary, 70p goes directly to the artist.