GARDEN OF INSECTS THAT LOOK LIKE PLANTS SKETCHES

A garden in appearance. A glass vitrine containing odd-looking vegetation. Nothing moves.

A tree of Dead Leaf Butterflies. A branch of Stick Insects. A patch of Grasshoppers. Moth Leaves on the ground decomposing.... Long grasses, branches, leaves, all made out of insects (preserved dry). It is an entomological display, a rather unusual one. A representational one. A landscape. A diorama. A garden.

Phasmids, Kallima innacus, Calyptra eustrigata, are some of the insects used in this artwork.

These insects look like plants to such a degree of detail, that some scientists consider mimic camouflage as an “excessive degree of perfection”. It has always puzzled me as to what kind of intelligence these creatures have in order to pretend to be something else in order to disappear — to become invisible to their predators, to blend in. I was always told to try to blend in… Interestingly enough, as mimicry is also a question of behaviour. Regardless of their appearance, they also have to remain absolutely immobile, because from the point of view of their predators, anything that doesn’t move doesn’t exist. Stick insects only move and sway as if blown by wind, synchronising themselves to their host-plant movements.

I don’t want to make a statement, but I do want to allow people a space for looking, admiring, wondering. I just want people to observe. The appearance of these animals is not meant to be noticed. I find that in itself worthwhile the effort… That’s why the suspended gaze of museum display cases will help me stop time for a moment so people can stop and see something…

Text by Maria Fernanda Cardoso

English