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Monday, January 12, 2009

Judi Harvest

I was recently introduced to Judi Harvest's work and I am now obsessed with her Bees series. She has been working on an intricate and diverse research/art series based on Colony Collapse Disorder. Her paintings are beautiful but the large scale hive sculptures are absolutely amazing. I would kill to own one of these porcelain, wax and gold leaf hive sculptures in my home. These organic, fragile and elegant structures evoke so many feelings.
Monumental Beehive,2008;Porcelain, beeswax, gold leaf, resin, collage materials, light & sound;80 x 50 x 32 in.
Beehive III,2008;Porcelain, beeswax, gold leaf, resin, coins, coral tree, sound,40" x 27" x 19"
Beehive II,2008;Porcelain, beeswax, gold leaf, resin, wire, Murano glass, sound;17" x 22" x 15" (my favorite piece)
Queen Bee, the Nuptial Flight;2008;Oil on linen,72" x 80"

"The Philosophy:A great wisdom lives in the beehive. It is not simply an assembly line of bees; the beehive has a very specific soul.The wax represents warmth; gold signifies the precious metal of the sun with its alchemical properties; porcelain embodies the nature of fragility; and resin, a dangerous medium if not used wisely, represents finality. The Bee Series is concerned with the vitality of life and its fragile state.As I continue my work on the hive sculptures, they evolve from chaos to order, undetermined to determined, cold to warm, expansion to contraction, fragile to strong, inanimate to alive, artificial to organic, quiet to noisy and unsettling to comforting—all the while, maintaining a balance and ultimately, an inner beauty and soul."

1 comments:

Erin W said...

I don't remember the artist's name, but a few years ago I saw sculptural work by an artist who puts objects in with bees who then build honeycomb on them. It was pretty cool looking, things like baseballs and high heel shoes!