A Delicate Nature
A Delicate Nature brings to light the fragile balance and interconnectedness of our ecosystem. I began this project after becoming a beekeeper. Managing honeybees teaches mindfulness of our ecosystem, how we have altered it, and the necessity of appreciating the raw, undomesticated state of our environment. Creating a project about honeybees encompasses the importance of understanding and appreciating native plants, studying the science of bees, and becoming aware of the barriers that bees face for survival.
As A Delicate Nature encompasses a variety of components, the process varies as well. The project includes silver gelatin photographs, cyanotype photograms, artist books, and clay sculptures. Silver gelatin photographs document mourning portraits for 264 bees that died in one day due to mosquito spraying. Each honeybee was photographed individually, and the final installation is a large-scale grid of portraits. Cyanotype photograms archive native plants: beneficial, pollinator, and poisonous. In the style of Anna Atkins, cyanotype prints serve as a botanical record of native plants. Photograms display true-scale studies and strip the plants of aesthetic surface details, which often make them underappreciated and termed “weeds.” However, these native plants play a vital role in creating a harmonious environment. Artist’s books serve as an ideal structure to visually discuss the life cycle of honeybees and butterflies, as well as the challenges they face for survival. Lastly, insect collector’s boxes house black clay replicas of butterflies and moths that have become extinct and, therefore, can no longer be collected. Each clay sculpture is to scale and design.
Most of these insects have become extinct due to habitat change from human development to their native landscape. As man continues to alter the natural order of the environment, we must work diligently to understand the synergy of our ecosystem and create a healthy landscape for nature to flourish. I aim for this project to bring awareness and appreciation of the natural state of the environment.