Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis was an evolving art project created and exhibited during an art residency with the Attic 506 in Chapel Hill in June - September 2022. The project explored patterns of growth and cyclic change in organisms within North Carolina’s local ecosystems—asking, what can we learn from these creatures amongst us? bell hooks' described, “love as the will to nurture our own and another’s spiritual growth,”— this project asked, how can we grow into more loving relationship with others and the land? Each month of the residency, was an exploration of a metamorphic stage of holometabolous insects—from the egg, to the larva, to the pupa, and finally the imago. These stages were researched and explored in broad sense—for the egg, what patterns are there in eggs? spores? seeds? the beginnings? For the larva—what is the child stage? what roles do larva play in ecosystems? For the pupa—what is transformation? what can transformation of the body, of the relationship to the body create? In the imago— to spiral up to the egg again requires a convergence—a mating dance, a combination, a community—what is this cycle? Below, you’ll find a video of the Attic 506 room, as well as slideshows of the art exhibited and made during the course of residency.
Explorations of the egg. Click through to see images up close.
The egg, Plaster, paper, lightbulb, bubble wrap, googly eyes, wire, wool.
egg as. .. . typewriter, ink, charcoal.
Oyster gills, charcoal, water.
Spore-streaming hyphae Charcoal, water, typewriter.
Maw of the oak gall, Oak gall ink and charcoal.
Detail of oak gall wasp, Oak gall ink, collage, charcoal, white gel pen.
Typewriter poem and spore print.
Lamentations on the larval stage. Click through to see images up close.
Wriggle and writhe, Fingerpainted ooze from poplar tree. on paper, glue, typewriter.
Milkweed bug instars, Watercolor, typewriter, and poplar tree ooze ink.
Ashbya, Watercolor, poplar tree ooze ink.
Maggot writhe, Watercolor, poplar tree ooze ink.
Maggot Mother, Watercolor, poplar tree ink ooze.
Hummingbird fledgling, Watercolor, poplar tree ooze ink, typewriter.
Lacewing larva, Watercolor, poplar tree ink ooze, typewriter.
Red-Spotted Newt Larva, Watercolor, poplar tree ink ooze, typewriter.
Red Eft, Watercolor, poplar tree ink ooze, typewriter.
Permutations of the pupal stage. Click through to see images up close.
Information on the pupal stage.
Watercolor and charcoal, inspired by microscopy of the imaginal discs of developing pupa.
poem on the pupal re-imagination, re-embodiment of the body.
Watercolor and charcoal, inspired by imaginal discs and reformation of the body.
Embrace of past and future selves. Oil, watercolor, charcoal, mud, inspired by microscopy of the developing sensory ganglia and imaginal discs of fruit fly larval eyes.
Public dance and art-making event hosted to nurture creativity and community. Art-making stations were provided, and the art that emerged was used for the imago section of the exhibit.
DJ's at work!
Projector, shadow-puppets for making and playing.
Imaginings of the imago. Click through to see images up close.
Wall painting made in conjunction with the public. Pastels, pokeweed berries, mud, oak gall ink, and poplar tree ooze were available for use.
Entangled widening spirals, Macrame and jute light sculpture, dyed with pokeweed.