Developing an Art Collection - The Land of Giant Insects
In 1999 Martin Pierce began a journey into bronze casting with 8 collections of door hardware and cabinet pulls. Forward to 2022 where the road has forked, and a wide tributary is winding its way to a collection of art sculptures.
Martin Pierce and his first collection have just been featured on Artsy Shark, a site that helps promote artists and their work. While the fictional story behind this collection is ongoing, we thought it timely to begin telling the tale and by explaining the fictional landscape and it’s characters.
A Tale of Giants and Insectophile Humans -
In today’s world, insects and birds lack the social and environmental importance they deserve. Humans in this world dominate the planet and their demands are contrary to the well-being of other species. In the new and fictional world, Martin Pierce, through sculpture and painting reverses the relative size of humans to insects with the former becoming diminutive and the latter becoming giants. The fictional scale also gives rise to a new relationship and the adversarial human is reinvented as an insect loving humanoid. While the relationship between these 2 species continues to evolve it is built on an agrarian lifestyle where humanoids and insects farm together and jointly partake in the fruits of their labors.
Landscape
The landscape is one of mangroves, yuccas, and bougainvillea with swaths of land cleared for farming. The topography is varied with craggy cliffs and rolling hills and lower lying valleys and swamps.
Characters
Grasshopper – resting on a mushroom and casting his stupendous shadow over the humanoid hiding in the mushrooms spongy fold. Both characters make their appearance in annual sporting events.
10”W x 9”D x 14”H
Stag Beetle – at least 2 varieties exist, the shiny suave steely and darker mottled bronze. They too compete in annual events but also play a key role as farmers tilling the soil ready for planting. The stag beetle makes his sculptural appearance as a runner sometimes accompanied by a humanoid rider and as one of 2 adversarial beetles sparring on a piece of oak bark.
20”W x 15”D x 6”H
Hornet – shown feeding on a large apple with an irritating humanoid for company
13”W x 10”D x 13”H
Wasp – portrayed as a solo runner or accompanied by a humanoid rider
11”W x 8”D x 6”H
Jay – flying toward the east or toward the west
17”W x 12”D x 4”H
Dung beetle and Raven – following soon