Cast pigmented resin and insects, ~7.5’x2’x2-4”, 2020-2021.
Industrial Amber consists of 40 sap-like pustules containing a variety of insect life protruding or seeping from the gallery wall. The insects and other creatures suspended in amber-tinted resin came from the artist’s collection of bugs gathered from her home and studio, supplemented by a collection of bugs bartered from a friend. The variety of insects displayed is a record of the biodiversity of our planet that is fading during our planet’s current mass extinction of natural life. It could also represent individuals gathered, yet isolated, similar to pandemic bubbles.
Each sap pustule looks as if it were a perfectly clear, fossilized piece of amber. Real amber is made of remnants of resin produced by now extinct coniferous trees. Recreating amber using resin encapsulates the industrial impact of our current actions on the environment and references the yellow pine that fueled the Southern timber industry. The resin transforms insect carcasses into something precious and alluring that seeps from the wall into the viewer’s space.
