Professor University of Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin
I am a visual artist best known for creating elaborate installations in which real insects, albeit dead and dried, are pinned directly to the wall in order to create patterns which reference wallpaper. When viewers enter one of my installations, they are greeted with something they think they know, that is, a patterned wallpaper. However, upon closer examination, one discovers that it is entirely made up of insects. Emotions range and rapidly fluctuate from fear to awe to distaste to wonder. There is beauty in the pattern, yet the apprehension we feel toward insects creates a tension. My work seeks to provoke a series of increasingly urgent questions in the age of climate change and argue that beyond clean air and water, insects are the key to the earth’s well-being and our very survival. My presentation will explore the ability of art to cultivate discourse on the importance of insects.