The Orcules Antis
March 2023
Medium: Wire
For this project, I had to create an insect using wire. However, it had to be a made-up insect, combining aspects from different insects into one. I also had to give character to my creation by giving it a name and describing characteristics that a real insect would have, such as habitat, what they eat, their measurements, and other things. The medium for this project was uniquely wire, two different types, a thicker, heavier one, and a thinner, lighter one. The wire had to be used to create the structure of the insect in a three-dimensional way, making it stand by itself, and also adding a moveable piece to the sculpture.
For my process for this project, I first researched insects that I liked and found interesting, which was a bit hard since I’m not a big insect lover. I draw a glass wing butterfly, an orchid mantis, and a Hercules beetle, and choose the last two for my insect, and ended up adding aspects of a carpenter ant. I sketched the basic appearance of the mantis, with the body distribution similar to the ant, the head of the Hercules beetle as the tail, as well as arms and antennas with aspects of the Hercules beetle arms. I started crafting it by making the base structure with hard wire, including arms/legs, tail, and head. The hard wire was used for the endoskeleton and part of the exoskeleton, and the light wire was used to complete and fill the exoskeleton. The final result features a moveable head, legs, and arms. Finally, I photographed it using light and angles to highlight different aspects of the insect.
