Artists and Insects

When I was pregnant I had a re-occurring dream that my baby was a little insect, a little green insect, s/he was so delicate and kept falling out of my womb prematurely.  I had to make sure she did not escape until she was more firmly developed and ready to be born.  

After my mum died I remember finding a little dead insect and for the first time I really looked at the face of an insect, for a moment I was sure I saw my mother staring back at me.  I was so struck by her facial features, by this beautiful tiny insect with such an intriguing face.  I made a little film of the insect and subsequently an insect face in clay, and some mono-prints. 

At times of birth and death the image of an insect came to me.  Insects work tirelessly, regulating our lives in the most profound ways, without them most ecosystems would fail, we would not survive without them.  Like a good mother they work trustily, processing, nurturing,  and regulating life on earth, and yet they go overlooked.  

As an artist I have my antennae out, picking up on feelings, moods, and undercurrents. Sometimes I need to withdraw in order to process what I am sensing, what I am picking up. Eventually over time sense impressions become images that perhaps have the potential to mirror back, to communicate, to fertilise our cultural landscape.  Like the insect/baby in my womb they need the correct amount of containment and nourishment before they are ready to be born/seen.