‘With one foot in the past and the other firmly in the contemporary, Phelps’ art crosses historical and cultural episodes of human endeavour. The Pigeon Archive brings together a series of works that bear witness to Phelps’ forensic research into the common use of homing pigeons during the First and Second World Wars. Typically, Phelps’ examination of historical moments elicits the most poignant and endearing of human stories. She aligns subjective memory with historical fact to present histories and recollections that offer alternative viewpoints to conventional and official histories.’
Extract from The Pigeon Archive by Michael Stanley, former Director, Modern Art Oxford and Milton Keynes Gallery