This body of work explores how nature is used and encountered. Due to my background in science and biology, I am drawn to the natural environment, and strive to explore tension that occurs between it and the industrial, man made environment that people encounter every day. The work becomes a symbol of the delicate balance needed for both environments to remain stable and productive. Through the use of symbols and colors derived from various insects, and through the use of mechanical and industrial processed in the composition and construction of the work, this balance is achieved.  Each piece uses specific imagery and forms of insects but is executed via water jet cutting, powder coating, 3D printing, metal casting, and fabric printing, showing that there can be a balance between the two environments if care is taken.

            Another theme present in the work is that of beauty versus the grotesque. The notion of beauty is societal based, which lead me to explore why some bugs are considered beautiful while others are not, this idea that some species of insects are more acceptable than others seemed to stem from the animals shape, color, and overall aesthetic. While creating the balance between nature and the man made with the aid of insect forms, I sought to make the “unacceptable” bugs more appealing. The moths chosen look more like butterflies because of their vibrant coloring. Cockroaches in Roach Brooch are adorned with floral gems to make them more approachable. As most already accept butterflies as beautiful and positive, Lepidoptera has a dark, muted purple coating. As each jewelry piece is designed to be interactive, surrounding the body and have multiple ways to wear it, those aesthetic shifts and choices mentioned above assist the wearer’s comfortability with the subject matter and therefore increase that level of interaction.  

            Exploring the balance between nature and industry, and using beautified insect forms in jewelry to do so, most work is titled to allude to the foundation science present in each piece. The name Lepidoptera is the order that butterflies belong to, a name that means “scaled wing”, a literal description of the wing structure. Eclipse is the term for a number of moths clustered together. Heterocera is the sub-order which moths belong to. Through gained understanding of one’s natural environment, one can than consider how to create a productive balance in the world. It is by wearing and interacting with the work that such discoveries are made, and in doing so the wearer gets to decide, and curate what they have on and what sort of equilibrium might be found. 

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