Bees
Bee Wall from Seeing The Trees For The Forest Arvada Center For The Arts and Humanities Arvada, CO, 2022; Curated by Collin Parson
Festooning Honeycomb on Stripped Willow (in collaboration with Dorothy Gill-Barnes) 2019 8" x 19" x 2"
Fra Angelico's Secret 2021 Honeycomb, Plastic, Brass, Plaster, Catalpa Tree Root 10" x 4" x 1.5"
Ourobouros 2021 Honeycomb, Copper, Caning, Ambrosia Maple 6.5" x 5.5" x 4"
Eye of the Mother Tree 2021 Honeycomb, Ponderosa Pine, Brass, Walnut 10" x 3" x 3"
Arches 2021 Honeycomb, Ponderosa Pine, Brass, Cedar 9.5" x 9.5" x 3"
Joyous Return 2019 Honeycomb, Orange Osage, Stripped Willow Branch (collaboration with Dorothy Gill-Barnes) 12" x 7" x 4"
Soar 2012 Honeycomb, copper Wire, Lacewood 11" x 5" x 5"
Adam's Horse 2019 Honeycomb, Plastic, Glass, Ambrosia Maple 10" x 5" x 5"
Princess 2022 Honeycomb, Plastic Pearls, Wire, Pine, Encaustic 9" x 4" x4"
Bees on Snails 2019 Honeycomb, Laser-Cut Plastic 10" x 10" x 1.5"
Rooted 2 2022 Honeycomb, Ponderosa Pine, Brass, Walnut 8" x 4" x 3"
Coronation of the Virgin Queen 2022 Honeycomb, Plastic, Metal, Weed Root 25" x 8" x 5"
Listen 2012 Honeycomb, Wood, Wire 8" x 19" x 2"
Swoop 2012 Honeycomb, Rope, Beeswax, Brick 14" x 7" x 7"
Bees on Snails #3 2019 Honeycomb on Laser-cut Plexi 10" x 10" x 1.5"
Eaten 2012 Honeycomb, Muslin, Wax, Brick 12" x 8" x 8"
Droop Honeycomb, Stripped Willow Branch, Live-Edge Pine 2019 9" x 11" x 5"
Eaten 2012-2020 Honeycomb on Insect-Damaged Cherry Wood 14" x 7" x 2.5"
We Were Here 2019 Honeycomb, Wood 8" x 19" x 2"
Beginning in 2010, I began experimenting with working with hives of honeybees, spurred by research into Colony Collapse disorder, which little was known about at the time.
By building a wax sculpture and introducing color to the wax, I’m able to offer the bees a kind of “proposition” and work with them to create a sculpture, if they accept the invitation. Often, it will be a back and forth conversation, with me making alterations and new proposals. Each hive is different, and each work of art at least partially a surprise. As experimentation is at the heart of these dialogues, failure is the rule as opposed to the exception.
In collaborating with them, I try to gently disrupt their natural processes to show the human hand - adding color or manipulating the cells out of their perfect shape, as the human hand always becomes visible in nature. Their health and safety is paramount, however, and all care is taken to protect them.