Posted: Sunday, November 21, 2004 6:00 pm
Insects can be creepy, even dangerous, and sometimes helpful. But rarely are they thought of as beautiful.
Beautiful, however, is what they become in the art of Jennifer Angus.
Angus generally uses various species and sizes of deceased bugs to create patterns that mimic wallpaper, fooling the viewer from a distance before mesmerizing with their detail.
But for her Lincoln installation, "Carpet Beetles: Patterns from the Orient," Angus put a new spin on her bug work, creating a half dozen floor pieces that are based on carpets from around the world.
In part, the move from walls to the floor was practical, an acknowledgment of the limitations presented by the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery in the Home Economics Building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus, where the installation is on view through Dec. 17.
"With the carpet on the (Hillestad gallery) walls, it would have been a challenge," Angus said. "We could have got them up. But they all have little hooks on their feet and we never would have gotten them down."
But moving them to the floor and using carpets for their inspiration also provides a direct connection with Hillestad's textile-based mission and with Angus' teaching. She's an assistant professor of textile design at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and she put what she uses in the classroom every week to work to make the "carpets."
Here's how the process works:
Angus obtains the bugs from insect specimen dealers around the world who know her well enough that if they get large quantities of a specific creature they call her to see if she wants to buy them. A sample of each type of insect is photographed, and the photos are scanned in her computer.
Angus then uses the scans to design the patterns, allowing her to account for size, shape and color. Arriving on the site of her installation, Angus then takes the insects and pins them to the wall, or in the case of Lincoln, the platform, according to the design she created on the computer.
That process isn't perfect. In one case in Lincoln, an entire row of a vertical pattern had to be dropped so the piece would fit on the platform. But it works well enough to create visually stunning pieces.
In a pattern based on a Tekke carpet, for example, a light blue of an insect pops out against the brownish ground, creating an unexpected color sensation. In others, large winged cicadas are used to create delicate four-sided patterns, while the insect bodies give weight to the work.
Only one piece done in rows uses butterflies. In that case, Angus pinned down the dead leaf butterflies in reverse of the way they would be displayed by collectors, creating a repeating pattern that looks like leaves rather than showing the colorful aspect of their wings.
Most of the Lincoln installation is made up of various types and sizes of cicadas and grasshoppers. It took about 1,500 insects to create the pieces, based on patterns that include a Tibetan meditation carpet and a Navajo rug.
The exhibition also includes a text piece made up of shadow boxes in which Angus spells out the words using insects. Those words are taken from "The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast," an early children's story, and is designed to convey the flight of fancy that is at the heart of Angus art.
Angus began working with bugs when she was researching textiles of tribal groups that live in Southeast Asia's "Golden Triangle," the area where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma) come together. Specifically, her inspiration came from a "singing shawl" made by the Karen people that incorporated beads and metallic beetle wings for its decorations.
Seeing that shawl, Angus decided to give arranging insects a try.
"Before that, I didn't think about insects much beyond they annoy me,'" she said. "But that (shawl) really captivated my imagination. Then, I started putting the patterns on the wall. As I did it, I went, whoa, I've got something here.'"
That whoa' reaction is probably universal in confronting Angus' installations. The patterns are clearly there. But there is something offsetting about seeing them made with insects, creating an uneasy balance between pleasing the eye and the nature of the material.
This is, essentially, a room full of bugs, an appalling concept. But it is also a room full of captivating objects skillfully created and arranged. That tension gives "Carpet Beetles: Patterns from the Orient" a resonance that doesn't rapidly fade away and that's why it is one of the best shows in Lincoln this year.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.