I wrote this for one of my painting classes:
Colony Collapse Disorder, which is currently plaguing honeybee colonies in the U.S. and Europe, is a phenomenon in which entire colonies of bees simply vanish without a trace. We don’t completely understand why it is occurring, though there are several theories. We rely on bees, non-native to North America to pollinate a large percentage of food crops. Their collapse could lead to the collapse of many of our staple crops, and eventually to the collapse of our agricultural systems. It is a human problem, one we appear to have no control over. Mother nature is the real boss here. We tend to forget that.
My beekeeper paintings portray humans as workers, tending to bee hives. They are an extension of worker bees; anonymous, busy, asexual. They are portrayed as one of many, not as individuals. They have no recognizable facial features which would make them distinct from others. I would like to continue my paintings on beekeepers and apiaries and to expand on some central ideas surrounding the relationships between bugs and humans. I would also like to explore imagery of other â??worker beesâ? of the world. I like the comparison of insects and humans. I like the idea of studying human behavior as if through the eyes of a neutral, scientific observer.
I appreciate Kiki Smithâ??s mixture of mediums as well as her tendency to produce art that appears to be created from a detached scientific view. I am interested in an obsessive pursuit of a single theme until it is completely exhausted of ideas. Mark Lombardiâ??s map work on conspiracies is inspirational to me as an example of an exhaustive pursuit of a subject and the connections that appear when you delve deep enough. Iâ??m intrigued by the simple, muted paintings with embroidery by Michael Raedecker. I would like to experiment with simplified forms and embroidery or felt. I plan on producing approximately 20 paintings in a range of sizes. Experimentation is most important to me. I envision most of my pieces to be painted in oils with a complementary body of work using a range of mediums.