Insect decline
Insect decline is a major threat for biodiversity, for pollination and our food supply, for human and plant health. There are multiple reasons for this decline, but they have all one factor in common: us, humans. We pollute our environment, we use broad-range pesticides, we destroy natural habitats, we change our global climate, we introduce invasive alien species.... and we do not seem to care!
When walking down the streets, cleaning the house in spring, we come across dead insects, killed by traffic, treatments, or just the ones that have died naturally, most insect species do not live longer (as an adult) than 1 year. Once they have died, they still show a glimpse of their beauty. I tried to catch that glimpse and serenity as an image (see Road kill), and as a drawing on paper.
Dead Insects
Falu slamfärg on 180 g drawing paper, 50x65 cm. Made in Henneviken, Sweden, the tiger mosquito. however, is not present there. btw none of these insects were killed for this purpose, even not the swatted mosquitoes!! Yet, the mosquito swatter was real.
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Swatted Mosquitoes
Egg tempera / watercolor carmine red on 250g Schut drawing paper, A5 . Made in Sweden during the high season for mosquitoes. btw none of these insects were killed for this purpose, even not the swatted mosquitoes! (but the mosquito/fly swatter was real).
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September 14, 2023, we followed a workshop egg-tempera at the Vrije Academie in Amsterdam. See Kunst op de Klapstoel for our experiences (in Dutch).
Pareidolia
Insects are (still) everywhere, they even detect some, in art I made, which was not intended as such. E.g., when I am painting, e.g. with Falu mud paint, watery mineral paint sometimes leaks onto the cardboard background; when I remove the actual work, an unintended structure emerges in which I see something special... e.g. a fly's head (see below), Or when walking the dog in the woods during the day, birds and dragons and other creatures pop up. They are not scary, and the dog is not impressed at all, but...it would be different when seeing such structures when its pitch dark... suddenly trolls are real!