Parallel to my work on identity, which references language, genetics and place, I create socially engaged work--or protest art-- that addresses topics such as censorship, assimilation, injustice and environmental issues. Pictured above are: The Dead Bee Scrolls. This mixed media triptych on paper is an elegy for the honey bees. I created the scrolls for a juried group show, "The Buzz Stops Here," at the Art. Science. Gallery in Austin, Texas. The exhibition ran from the 18 April - 30 May 2015. The triptych won third place and is now in the private collection of the exhibition's juror, Barrett Klein, Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. Klein is co authoring a chapter to be published in Bloomsbury's six volume series, A Cultural History of Insects. His chapter discusses the use of insects in art during the modern era (~1920 to the present) in response to human-caused environmental damage and species loss.
The decline and collapse of bee colonies--which is the subject of this work--was precipitated in part by widespread application of systemic pesticides known as neonicotinoids, (“Neonics”) “Neonics” are long lived, persistent, synthetic forms of nicotine, toxic to insects. They interfere with the bees ability to navigate and to produce queen bees for the hives. Top producers of neonics are Bayer Crop Science (products include Confidor, Admire, Gaucho and Advocate) , Syngenta (Actara, Platinum, Cruiser), Sumitomo,Chemical/Bayer, CropScience (Poncho, Dantosu, Dantop) and Nippon Soda (Mospilan, Assail, ChipcoTristar). European countries, such as Germany, have imposed a ban on these pesticides while in the United States the Environmental Protection Agency continues to succumb to pressure from manufacturers not to ban their use. My interest in creating this piece was to challenge the industry’s disinformation by graphically depicting the result of using neonics. The scrolls are a metaphor for the hive and suggest progressive collapse as the pesticides wreak havoc.
The decline and collapse of bee colonies--which is the subject of this work--was precipitated in part by widespread application of systemic pesticides known as neonicotinoids, (“Neonics”) “Neonics” are long lived, persistent, synthetic forms of nicotine, toxic to insects. They interfere with the bees ability to navigate and to produce queen bees for the hives. Top producers of neonics are Bayer Crop Science (products include Confidor, Admire, Gaucho and Advocate) , Syngenta (Actara, Platinum, Cruiser), Sumitomo,Chemical/Bayer, CropScience (Poncho, Dantosu, Dantop) and Nippon Soda (Mospilan, Assail, ChipcoTristar). European countries, such as Germany, have imposed a ban on these pesticides while in the United States the Environmental Protection Agency continues to succumb to pressure from manufacturers not to ban their use. My interest in creating this piece was to challenge the industry’s disinformation by graphically depicting the result of using neonics. The scrolls are a metaphor for the hive and suggest progressive collapse as the pesticides wreak havoc.