Gift from the Bugs Who Know Me

Digitally rendered wrapping paper on Epson Premium Luster photo paper, ribbon, cardboard, secondhand fabric, gifted insects

2025

Gift from the Bugs Who Know Me spawned out of the profound connection I have built with those around me. I once saw a video, a person jokingly saying their friends had never gifted them bugs. While this person desired to recieved them as a gift, no one could see the value in gifting a friend a bug. No one considered a bug worthy of being a gift. My automatic response to the video slipped out faster than I had realized, "My friends gift me bugs all of the time." Just as I see the value of an insect, those around me have come to recongize this value as well. This piece focuses on acceptance, understanding other's interests, and the deep apprecation for the gross and stigmatized. 

My friends learned to love bugs.

My friends learned to love me.