“Butterfly Kaleidoscope” Collage

Symmetrical composition of Acrylicalized butterfly wings, permanently adhered to illustration board, and sealed under glass. Includes a full list of insect species used on the back of the piece. The mosaic on these pieces is made with eco-friendly, sustainably-farmed butterfly wings. The butterflies I use are farmed in third-world and developing countries; after the butterflies die, the farmers collect and sell the insects instead of poaching them or logging the valuable rainforest, which makes my pieces eco-friendly. I “acrylicalize” each butterfly wing to structurally reinforce it and adhere it to the background surface. Two of the species I often use in my artworks, the Blue Morpho and the Madagascan Sunset Moth, were endangered species before the butterfly farms stabilized and replenished their populations—so they are no longer endangered, thanks to the insect-farming initiative! The farms are in Peru, Brazil, Madagascar, the Central African Republic, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, and Colombia. The butterfly is the last stage of the insect’s life-cycle. In order to transition from caterpillar to butterfly, the caterpillar dissolves into a DNA “soup” inside the chrysalis and is reconfigured by a force of intelligent energy into an entirely new form. In my paintings, they are again in an entirely new form. While playing with butterfly wings as a medium, I intuitively arranged them into symmetrical snowflake-like compositions. Around the same time, I learned about and became fascinated with Dr. Masaru Emoto’s controversial experiment in which he analyzed the crystallization of water into snowflakes: The water samples that were labelled with positive emotions and words (Love, Health, Joy, etc,) and then had the corresponding energy directed at them, crystalized into symmetrical, aesthetically-pleasing snowflakes. Alternatively, the samples labelled and affected with negative emotions (such as Hate and Disgust,) resulted in deformed, asymmetrical snowflakes! While the symmetrical compositions of my butterfly wing mosaics can also be interpreted as kaleidoscopes or mandalas, the idea of a snowflake made out of tropical rainforest insects is ironic, touching on the topic of environmental health in a surreal interpretation. I also think of it as a visual representation of the intelligent energetic force that is present in all things: The symmetrical snowflake is a symbol of health and natural order. The painting will arrive in a reinforced box.