"Golden Bees"

2011

I created the "Golden Bees"  series in reaction to the plight of the bees in the US suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon that causes the sudden loss of a colony’s worker bee population, leaving the queen and brood behind. Since hives cannot sustain themselves without workers supporting the queen and her brood, the colonies would collapse and die. 

My research led me to hive owners in rural and urban Houston where I was able to photograph bees. The hives owners also let me take a plastic cup full of dead bees that had died mysteriously. I brought them to my studio where I photographed them and even painted them life size in oil on canvas. My post-processing work led me to invert their color and notice how they resembled jewels and gold. I was concerned for their wellbeing in our culture that overlooks these insects who pollinate one-third of our food supply. 

Honeybees will become extinct if we continue to poison their resources. If these creatures go extinct, they will be as rare and precious as gold and jewels. I digitally isolated the creatures from their backgrounds, placed them in settings ranging from soap suds that I made to look like a celestial galaxy as well flowers and golden colored backgrounds. I printed these images for an exhibition in Houston in 2016.

Sizes Available 

30 x 30 in., archival inkjet prints, edition of 5 with 2 Artist Proofs 

20 x 20 in., archival inkjet prints, edition of 8 with 1 Artist Proof

Above: Golden Bees  , 30 in x 30 in archival inkjet print