Tropidacris dux
MY INNER BIOLOGIST IS GIDDY WITH EXCITEMENT! In this post, I’ll share with you a photo collaboration that I’ve done with Montreal’s Insectarium and some artists.
A bit of background first. Les Amis de l’Insectarium is an NGO in partnership with Montreal’s Insectarium and their mission is to promote the appreciation of the fascinating world of insects. I’m personally already sold on that part, insects are dope. Last year, they announced a pretty cool pilot project called Insect’Art. In short, they created a library of insects available for rent for artists.
WHAT? They created a library of insects available for rent for artists! The idea is that artists could go through a catalogue of insects for rent, then go to the Montreal Insectarium, and leave with a suitcase with insects. How cool is that?
Proscopia sp.
Phyllium giganteum
Eupholus schoenherrii
When I heard about this collaboration, the first thing I did was to tell Janna Yotte and Raku Inoue, and then I was left wondering which insects I’d pick and what I’d do when I got a hold of them.
I thought about it for a while, couldn’t quite come up with anything that satisfied me with the deadlines that I had, so after reaching out to Les Amis de l’Insectarium, we ended up deciding to collaborate in a different way. I ended up photographing all of their insects for their catalogue, and I also photographed some of the artists who rented the insects to help promote this collaboration. I’ll show you two here, Mirna Rivera and Janna Yotte.
Check out puppet master Mirna Rivera’s work here.
Each puppet is represented by a different insect and personifies a human personality trait—exuberant, fearful, maternal, proud, withdraw, etc. When I met up with her, she was working on the puppet wearing the shell of the empress cicada (Pomponia imperatoria), which she had borrowed from the insectarium as a reference. I love the detail on the wings.
I also photographed my friend and collage artist Janna Yotte, who shares my fascination with the natural world. When I met up with her, she had photographed and printed her insects, and she was in the process of integrating them into her other-worldly collages. Among her subjects was one of my favourite butterflies, the blue morpho (Morpho menelaus). I still have memories of doing field work in Panama and suddenly seeing a flash of iridescent blue fly past me and thinking it was a bird since they’re so huge.
I can’t wait to see both of their finished works. In the meantime, the Insect’Art project is being reviewed as its pilot phase is ending soon. Hopefully, we’ll be treated with an even bigger collection of insects for rent.
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Thanks for reading!