Jennifer Angus: The Grasshopper and the Ant, Part 1

Pink/Blue Grasshoppers (Madagascar) surrounded by Clear Wing Cicadas (Malaysia)

I'm not known for my bravery in the face of bugs. But I couldn't wait to get up close and personal with the insects in Jennifer Angus' exhibit at the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts entitled "The Grasshopper and the Ant and Other Stories." Yes, her medium is bugs.

I had the chance to hear Angus speak, so I learned how she became "the Insect Lady." Angus is a Professor in Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an expertise in textiles. While on a research project in the Golden Triangle in Thailand, Angus happened upon a singing shawl decorated with the hard outside wings of green stag beetles. Their bright color was so striking Angus immediately dubbed them "nature's sequins."

One small portion of one exhibit wall

Before long, Angus was combining her longstanding passion for patterns with her newfound love of insects. She recounted her first exhibit at a gallery in Toronto. The display wasn't as elaborate or colorful as the one here, but it was clear there was something on the walls. She recalls hearing people standing outside with their noses pressed to the window saying, "It looks like they have new wallpaper, but where's the art?" People who came in would often recoil when they got close and realized there were bugs on the walls. (It does help to be prepared for what you're there to see!)

Jennifer Angus with her Cabinet of Curiosities

In addition to the wall displays, Angus is known for her "Cabinets of Curiosities." The vintage card catalogue cabinet shown here was new for this exhibit and contained 130 drawers.

Angus had filled all but the top three layers of drawers with vignettes featuring insects teaching, reading and engaging in textile activities.Angus tasked herself with creating three drawers a day for the exhibit, a job she admitted was quite exhausting. The anthropomorphized insects are a stand-in for Angus herself.

Some drawers are always open for exhibitgoers to enjoy. But our timing was right, and we arrived just as additional drawers were being pulled at visitors' requests. Once the drawer was placed on a viewing table, the docent asked us what we thought was happening. It was a lively conversation.

Detail from one of the cabinet vignettes - Stag Beetle (Indonesia) reading up on climate change

Many of the vignettes featured partially burned matches and singed books. (Angus had stamped each page of the tiny books, which are quite beautiful.)  We learned Angus had a dual--but related--intention behind the inclusion of these features.

Not surprisingly, Angus is concerned about the environment and climate change. She was devastated by the fires in the Amazon Rainforest last summer. The matches are a reference to those fires and the fragility of nature.

Burning books was, of course, a historical practice of people who found the ideas within their covers dangerous. The clear implication is that Angus' tiny books deal with the science of climate change and steps that should be taken to slow its impact. Obviously, our reader hasn't gotten the word that this is fake news.

Specimen in the Ants' Pantry

The concept of this particular exhibit -- Angus' largest to date -- came from a painting in the MFA's collection depicting the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. In case you haven't read Aesop lately, the basic story is that the ants spend all summer stockpiling food for the long winter ahead while the grasshoppers make music. The moral of the story is there's a time for work and a time for play and the grasshoppers made a poor choice.

Angus was kind of outraged by this message that minimizes the value of the arts. How many of us listen to music while we work? Perhaps the grasshoppers' music sustained the ants as they were toiling away. We each have our contributions to make.

The entrance to the exhibit was a narrow hallway with several shelves with insect specimens too damaged for Angus to use in a future exhibit. She dubbed this portion of the show the ants' pantry. I get it if you are recoiling at the concept just as those visitors did at Angus' first show in Toronto. But trust me when I say each of the specimens is an example of beauty and art in nature.

Stay tuned for more from Angus' exhibit. The craziest part is yet to come!

"The Grasshopper and the Ant and Other Stories" by Jennifer Angus is on display at the St. Pete Museum of Fine Arts through January 5. Click here for more info.