Do you ever look at the bug? Appreciate its natural design? Color? shape? Texture?
I'd say that most of us would answer "no" to those last three.
I myself tend to get a tissue and use it to set the little creature "free" outside (weather and temperature notwithstanding - I'm not THAT much of a bug lover).
But how can you look at something like this and not see beauty?
Everyone has seem some version of what Christopher Marley does in his Pheromone designs. I remember visiting a Palm Springs home with my grandmother, and marveling at the framed displays of blue butterflies in the living room.
But those were butterflies. Butterflies are the pretty princesses of the bug world (at least as far as humans are concerned).
Marley, himself admits to a prior abhorrence of insects - something that only changed when he looked at them "from the perspective of a designer." They represented perfect examples of all that he admired in forms with "purpose and sleek utilization."
And by looking deeper, he found more to admire. This new perspective put beetles and their peers in a new light for the artist. And he wanted to recreate this feeling for observers of his work.
To accomplish this effect, he moved his subjects out of their natural and expected environment and into a blank page context. One where they could be viewed objectively as creatures of interest, wonder, and yes - beauty.
A glance at these works evokes the perception of colors and patterns which are as organized and purposeful as the life of each insect on display.
Does this change your own perspective of bugs? Just a little? Maybe it's just some food for thought... Regardless of personal experience there is no question of the impact that Marley's pieces have upon the viewer.
See more of his work, which includes far more than just bugs HERE.
P.S. We vote for pretty! But I'm still tissue-removing bugs from my house as usual.
Posts
