Butterfly case

untitled
Assemblage box hand constructed using recycled materials
Wood ,glass ,Watercolour paper and wire
52cm x 62cm x 4.5cm
Words printed on butterflies taken from Keats poem
A thing of beauty
I was searching for something to symbolise the the transient nature of life and butterflies are a perfect example of short lived beauty, I was intrigued by the collections of insects and the whole process of taxomony at the natural history museum at Tring , particulary the butterflies.The Victorians were such avid butterfly collectors, I was fascinated by these fragile creatures that died prematurely by the hand of man, asphyxiated to quench a desire to collect ,for some just a hobby, others for science ,all displayed in wooden collecting drawers.I wanted to replicate this in my work.. I felt it important to use some form of text within this work and I was reminded of a poem by John Keats ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’taken from Endymion .I printed the first five lines onto the butterflies so that they can be read from left to right