Impressions, 300x300cm, Woodprint and ricewax, 2024

This installation, shown on the previous page, consists of approximately 100 prints of firebugs, each coated with red coloured rice wax. The assembled piece measures approximately 300x300cm and was made in 2024. The installation is inspired by an observed behaviour of firebugs, which thend to gather in clusters to formstriking red and black patches against a green-brown background. Each print represents an individual firebug and together they form a gathering on the floor.
The prints are made with linocut on rice paper, that is then coated with rice wax. The choice of printmaking, with its ability to produce multiples that closely resemble each other, reflects the visual uniformity of the firebugs and my initial difficulty in distinguishing between them. In their natural clusters, firebugs coalesce into a single visual entity. Similarly, in this installation, the individual prints merge into one large composition. Also, the rice wax coating, mimicks the waxy, shiny texture of the firebugs‘ exoskeletons.