Dead bees: The new buzzzz of the art world
Ruth Marsh takes bee corpses and resurrects them through art
Ruth Marsh has an unusual hobby: she's been collecting dead bees in the mail. People send them to her because her art practice uses the bodies of the insects to create hybrid taxidermy creatures. From these creations, she's building a museum for the future: an institution to memorialize bees, who will potentially become extinct. And in the process, she's trying to build a future for bees to survive in a new harsh environment.
"In the same way that I use repairing bees one at a time to overcome a feeling of being overwhelmed by the size of the environmental crisis, I use this impossible exercise as a way to stave off hopelessness," the Halifax-based artist explains.
In this video directed by Jeff Wheaton, you'll meet Marsh as she taxidermies her bees and adds parts so that they become cyber heroes of the insect world.
You can see Ruth Marsh's work at PAVED Arts in Saskatoon in 2018. Also in 2018, she is part of a touring group exhibition opening at Mount Saint Vincent in Halifax.
Watch Exhibitionists Sundays at 4:30pm (5 NT) on CBC.