The Medic Project

My grandfather was a medic in world war II. Honeybees carry thier dead to the front of the hive as a ritual within their life cycle. These two concepts inform this installation of works on paper. Each red cross blueprint image is made up of many dead honeybees, earth and salt. The bees were donated to my project by local beekeepers.

The Honeybee Blueprint Project

This project is a collaboration with living honeybees, resulting in large works on paper. The images are unique life size photogram prints made in the sun (not from a digital negative).  Incorporating aspects of printmaking, photography and drawing these images were made using organic components and the presence of honeybees. Each blueprint is a record of light, time and labor. In the fleeting moments that pass during exposure, bees move and vibrate. This movement causes the bees to appear as little ghosts, or soft glowing orbs of light. Their presence is recorded over long exposures.

 Many bees huddled together form large beautiful organic shapes. The bees represent the majority of the white (highlight) areas within these works. Honeybees are in no way harmed by this project.

Bio:

Growing up in a working-class blue-collar southern family has greatly influenced my artistic themes. Being on and around construction sites, as a child and through adulthood, influenced my concepts of building and destroying. Years later these ideas have led to a focus on the “worker bees”.

The bees both create the image while destroying and feeding upon it. In the fleeting moments that pass during exposure, bees move and vibrate. This movement causes the bees to appear as little ghosts, or soft glowing orbs of light.