Papilio UlyssesPhotograph (c) Jo Whaley /All Rights Reserved
Orthoptera: AcrididaePhotograph (c) Jo Whaley /All Rights Reserved
ColeopteraPhotograph (c) Jo Whaley /All Rights Reserved
Tropea LunaPhotograph (c) Jo Whaley /All Rights Reserved
Insects continue to evolve despite the fumbling of man.
Although they appear so small and fragile, their species will most likely exist after we cease to.
Although they appear so small and fragile, their species will most likely exist after we cease to.
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JO WHALEY studied Painting and Art History at UC Berkeley. She was a Scenic Artist painting theater sets and backdrops for the San Francisco Opera and Ballet companies. In 1989 she received the first of five Poloroid Grants.
"Insects depicted larger than life, approach a human scale. One can confront them face to face and wonder at their structure and designs. In these images, the insects inhabit peculiar dioramas of an altered environment, which is vaguely familiar to the human mind, but at odds with the natural world. These creatures have seemingly adapted, as they blend amongst the glass, metal and concrete. Atmospheric skies are questionable in their chemical composition. Nature has in turn, deteriorated the man-made, through rust, cracks and decay; indicating that man, too, is as fragile and minuscule as a moth. These images are metaphors of an environmental disquietude. However there is a parallel in reality. Some insects are adopting protective coloring to camouflage with our industrialized environment. The classic example is the white birch moth of Manchester, England; which quite suddenly changed to black, in order to blend with the soot laden trees. Biologists have given this phenomenon the name "Industrial Melanism". Insects continue to evolve despite the fumbling of man." Read Whaley's entire essay Theater of Insects here
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