The Human Hive is a mixed media painting exploring the portrayal of a honeybee colony building a human in their hive. The piece is made on an 18” x 24” wood panel using acrylic paint, oil paint, beeswax, honeycomb, practice tattoo skin, and liquid latex. The painting of The Human Hive painting is what inspired the main concept for my senior thesis that expands on the concept of a honeybee hive growing a human.

This series of images is based on The Human Hive and was made for the 2022 Parsons School of Design Integrated Design Senior Showcase Catalogue. The purpose of the images is to capture the essence of The Human Hive for a print catalogue in tandem with the showcase.

The Human Hive is a mixed media sculpture accompanied by a sound piece that delves into the concept of building identity and the symbiotic relationship between humans and honeybees through the portrayal of a honeybee hive growing a human. Honeybees and humans have shared a symbiotic relationship for thousands of years with each species' definition of identity being on opposite sides of the spectrum. Identity is the most personal and the most public attribute humans possess. We build the base of our identity throughout the complex course of childhood into adulthood. Honeybees on the other hand are all part of a collective hive mind system that will always put the better of the hive first. These two definitions of identity are vastly different with Human Hive exploring the idea of pushing the symbiotic relationship with honeybees even further to the point of a honeybee hive growing a human.

Final images of sculpture coming soon

Organum is a 8” x 8” x 8” mini-installation box inspired by my previous project I’m your fan. I’m your fan was a flesh fan inspired by the Museum of the City of New York’s archive of fans. The purpose of I’m your fan was to create a juxtaposition between the delicate and elitist nature of fans and the jarring imagery resembling flesh. Since I’m your fan got some great feedback on different materials that appear more flesh-like as opposed to acrylic paint which led to Organum. The purpose of Organum is to give the participant inside the feeling of being inside a human body or organ. The title of the piece Organum is the Latin root of the word organ and means “a musical instrument” and the Latin root is derived from the Greek word ὄργανον (órganon)" meaning “implement, tool for making or doing; musical instrument; organ of sense, organ of the body” (Online Etymology Dictionary).