Bugology
February 25 – May 21
Opening reception, Friday, March 10, 6–10 p.m.
(In conjunction with ArtNight)
Curated by Tricia Watts, Chief Curator Sonoma County Museum
Bugology is an artistic investigation into the world of bugs through the work of fifteen contemporary Southern California artists. Their art investigates what it means to relate aesthetically with these terrestrial creatures that both inspire and repel us at the same time. These works take us on a journey of design, evolution, fantasy, collaboration and invasion. Paul Paiement paints hybrid species combining insects and technological inventions. Tera Galanti continues an ongoing experiment in which she attempts to recreate a species of live silk moths that can fly. John Knuth feeds swarms of flies colored water in an enclosed environment, after which they delicately soil prepared white canvas with colored specks. Nick Taggart and Laura Cooper create a garden of bugs in an installation of works on paper. Ryan Taber and Cheyenne Weaver exhibit a large floor sculpture of a modeled tree log containing a diorama with live invasive beetles. Jacquelyn McBain paints excruciatingly detailed Old Master paintings of insects as saints. Sylvia Tidwell paints microscopic views of insects and creates landscape fields of bug specimens. Brian Ricci paints luminescent insect portraits. David Prochaska flattens vintage insecticide cans to paint portraits of dignified bugs. Samantha Fields paints fallen and reconfigured spiders. Photographer Joel Glassman shoots black and white classic portraits of insects. Karen Nakashima crafts insect cocoon specimens from both natural and manmade materials, inviting conversations about biomimicry. These works are whimsical, informative, provocative and aesthetically inspiring, providing a medium for reframing our relationship with bugs.