“American Chimera” is an extended multimedia project by artist Mark Kendall rooted in a layered examination of the practice of Jim Day, a self-taught taxidermist who constructs “bald eagles” out of the parts of other birds, circumventing the federal prohibition against unauthorized possession of actual specimens. By integrating moving image, exhibition, and research-based practice, the project considers the eagle as a chimeric figure in American life—simultaneously a living species and widely circulated symbol, operating as a site of cultural projections, values, memories, and fantasies. Like the bird at its center—shifting and chimeric—”American Chimera” fosters civic inquiry into American identity as a composite form, built from many origins and constantly remade.