Entomoscapes breaks down familiar morphological shapes, reframing insects as glimpses of abstract aesthetic, probing our psyche by searching for deeper beauty in the superficially repulsive. I seek out the collaborative empathy that we tend to reserve for other animal groups such as mammals and birds – an empathy that urges us to protect them, but is so often absent in our perception of the insect world. My methodology is forged from a need to build the broken bridges that exist between ‘them and us’; a dichotomy fuelled by modern culture and ultimately threatens our own long-term existence.
The insects in these photographs are collected post-mortem; they are found, already dead, on paths, in the house or garden. They are encapsulated in epoxy resin; a method of preservation I use to protect their fragile bodies from breakage. Resembling prehistoric insects fossilised in amber, they are imperfect, bearing hallmarks of damage and injury during their lives. Nor is the resin casting process perfect; bubbles form from the mixing of the resin liquid and air escaping from an insect’s body during the curing stage. The lighting source is direct sunlight; a nod to the solar radiation that is critical to the survival of the vast majority of insects, even those that live in the polar regions.
The resulting images are not immediately identifiable as insects, but they bear the signature features that make the subjects unmistakeable as the image is decoded. They take us on a journey through the composition, becoming more landscape than insect. Morphological features become rich, sensual textures and colours that interplay with air bubbles within the resin suspension, which plays its own role in controlling the directionality of the setae and the way the sunlight refracts through wing membranes.
Images and words © Gail Ashton
