For my Artist's Books final I created a large scale carousel book representing the hive. The book is entirely hand screen printed and drawn, and endeavors to inspire an admiration of beauty for an object and insect generally feared by human beings.
Bees are a fascinating wonder of nature. A hive consists of all female bees serving the queen. Bees serve an important purpose in the continuation of life on earth by pollinating a large percentage of plants and flowers that produce food we and other animals consume. Because of the transition of modern agriculture to monocultures, and an excessive use of pesticides, bees are beginning to die off in record numbers which has dire effects on the amounts of food produced to sustain our society and ecosystems.
Carousel books have been used since the 20's, and remain an intriguing structure in book-making because they function as book and sculptural object.
Within the book I hid a queen bee, trying to express her preciousness by shrouding her within the book's swarm.
Closeup of one of the panels. Bees and honeycombs were printed in numerous combinations of ink and paper in the same color pallette of black, gold, red, and white.
