I have been fascinated by insects for as long as I can remember, way back before I began working in sculpture and jewelry. Their ‘otherness’ is intriguing; the beauty of some is as undeniable, and yet they are capable of eliciting fear and disgust. Those who are charmed by colorful butterflies and amazed by dragonflies are horrified by cockroaches, hairy spider legs, and scorpions. It is this conflict which I explore with the help of my unique art.
The iridescent colors of beautiful butterflies are captured in my skull pictures, which are painstakingly created using hundreds of butterfly wings, to capture their natural colors and shades.
The plants are a mixture of insect wings, legs and abdomens, and tarantula spider legs. They’re incredibly fragile and echo the integral relationship between insect and plant, each needing the other for survival. Here that symbiosis is taken to its limit.
My process is iterative, beginning without a completed design or fixed set of bug-part components. It’s a little like a three-dimensional puzzle. I add one component and then the next until a final piece grows organically from the wings and legs, carapaces and abdomens which are arrayed before me in a piece of beautiful art.
More info: kellymccallum.com
