Artist’s Statement
The central idea of this concentration is to combine the human body and insects in compelling ways that create new meanings and challenge the connotations of both. Most see the human form as beautiful, and regard cockroaches as repugnant. What happens when you juxtapose them? My interest in connecting the two goes farther however than just mixing the flowery and the foul. I’m implying a relationship of interdependence and value. Insects hold an instrumental place within our ecosystem by pollinating flowers, recycling dead animals into soil nutrients, and by being prey for other animals. They often go unobserved in the natural world, busy doing the various tasks God has assigned them. Yet, over forty percent of small insects are threatened by extinction, and with a growing shortage of bees and butterflies around the world, I felt inspired to depict insect encounters as important moments of revelation and clarity.
Not all of these revelations are pleasant, however. In “Yelp,” for example, the boy has pried his mouth open and found a beetle sitting on his tongue like a secret weighing down his words. In “Butterflies in my Stomach,” the stage fright a boy is feeling has turned to butterflies circling his head. Whether they be terrifying or tranquil, I hope that you the viewer will value your insect encounters yet to come.
