Cultivated ruin

An investigation into ideas of beauty and the sublime in tandem with the destigmatization of invertebrates, working with the aesthetic conventions and ideology employed by Romantic landscape painters of the early nineteenth century and the Pictorial photography movement of the early twentieth century. Seeking a balance between beauty and the grotesque (for some), an evocation of the power and grandeur of nature--In these worlds, I have built, I intend for the insects, placed in the role often occupied by a human, to challenge perceptions of visual space and contend the self-inflicted isolation of humanity to the natural world.

All parts of this work are highly considered and controlled, from model construction, the arrangement of subjects and topography, and control of the lighting. Consideration for the thesis exhibition has also been an important part as well; the default "white cube" gallery clashes with my artistic endeavors. Research into modern natural history museum culture and Victorian natural history museums have the essence of what I am interested in presenting--a room that is a cabinet of curiosity. I am seeking to cultivate a transformative experience as part of my exhibition with specific ways of displaying works on walls, cases, and pedestals.