Insectographia: Drawing in Enamel

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An exhibition of over 60 enameled insect brooches and objects

Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum
at Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona

December 12, 2014-April 26, 2014
Public Reception Friday, Feb. 13 7-10p.m.

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Katydid Brooch

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Blue Wasp Brooch

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Green Beetle Brooch

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Pleasing Fungus Beetle Brooch

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Orange Beetle Brooch

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Wheel Bug Brooch

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Rituals Brooch

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Flea Buckle_back_2014_small
Flea Belt Buckle

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Scolopendra Bowl

Scorpion Brooch_2014_cropped
Scorpion Brooch

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Ants Marching Brooch

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Seed Bug Brooch

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Pinacate Beetle Brooch

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Flea Bowl

Red Wasp Brooch_2014_small
Tarantula Hawk Wasp Brooch

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Treehopper Necklace

MAC Postcard

My exploration in metalwork and enameling illustrates organisms through imagery that represents a diverse array of entomological life. However, dissected, manipulated, or scrutinized, these organisms remain elusive and woefully unappreciated. Anthropomorphically biased, we focus only on the exasperations specific to the human condition—the blood thirsty mosquito, the menacing cockroach lurking beneath the kitchen stove. So ready to smack, squish, and spray, we fail to appreciate the evolutionary aptitude and anatomical brilliance of these savage bugs. From intricate venation patterns within glassy amber wings to microscopically formidable tarsi, complex microcosms of line, form, and texture abound. Despite our cultural aversions, insects are the successful progeny of millions of years of evolution. They will continue to flourish or perish, irrespective to the blinds of human perception, long surpassing our own evolutionary blip. Perhaps the real aggravation then is not the pesky mosquito to the human, but the human as the ephemeral vexation in the eternal reign of the insects.