Entomophobia. Metamorphosis. Ecological Armageddon. 2019

HONOLULU BIENNIAL 2019
FOSTER BOTANICAL GARDEN
Mar 8th – May 5th

View Gallery: https://www.brunastude.com/honolulu-biennial.html
 

Kaua’i based artist Bruna Stude is interested in the consequences of human actions on the environment. Through her work Stude examines the vulnerability of threatened habitat and other environment-related issues. Entomophobia. Metamorphosis. Ecological Armageddon is a new work for the 2019 Honolulu Biennial consisting of 5 alaea (Kaua’i red clay) drawings and seven chemigrams, an experimental process where an image is made by painting with photo chemicals. Hanging from the Pergola in the Herb Garden at the Foster Botanical Garden, the installation creates an illusion of a single composition layering the intricate wing patterns of endangered insects endemic to Pacific region. The designs of the wings are enlarged and abstracted, each drawing is scaled to reflect the work of the surrounding trees. Bruna Stude works in an indoor-outdoor studio space directly interacting with the natural environment. Her drawings were created on delicate Haini Kozo using palladium and in a smaller measure platinum and photo developing chemical and then exposed to the sun allowing UV rays to set the final shapes and shades. Similar to her installation at the Bishop Museum in the native Hawaiian garden there is the repetition of color and pattern across the work that reflects the cycles of nature. Visitors are welcome to walk to the installation at the Foster Botanical Garden to experience the lightness and transparency of the paper and reflect on the fragility of the natural environment.