Oblivion: What Flies Amongst Us Original by Emily Marbach

Mixed media collage
 
This piece is made up of about twenty different insects, a bird’s head, and a duck. Plus, a man I coloured in sitting atop a butterfly. I obscured the fowl mostly in the end. Often people are amazed by human creations; a beautifully designed silk scarf, a modern architectural wonder, a beer can label. But underneath our shoes or standing beside a leaf, are tiny creatures whose design is so intricate, the colour combinations startling, the shape so imaginative. But we rarely see them, notice them, look for them. And sadly, the number of species we are losing to insecticides, human habitation and industrialisation are vast. So that even if we did seek them out, there will no longer be there. My collage depicts the insects in black and white. Because without the colour we might never notice these little gems at all. The man sits on the back of a butterfly as somehow, we’ve decided that they are an integral part our human narrative. But otherwise, my man is blissfully ignorant of the rest, perhaps thinking of them all as pests. This petri dish project has moved me to become more appreciative and aware of the insects in my life.