INSECTICIDE AN ART EXHIBITION May 15 – June 22, 2010

ARTIST STATEMENT

Pseudocopulation series Pseudocopulation series 1 of 5
Longclubbed Wasp Orchid and Proxima Wasp 2010
13″ x 13″
Chiloglottis Trilabra, the “Long Clubbed Wasp Orchid”, takes advantage of the Thynnine Wasp male’s paternal
tendencies. The male wasp is known to abduct the female of its species, and feed her so that he may be allowed to procreate, and his parental characteristics passed on to the young. Male wasps are fooled into thinking the orchid is a female wasp by its appearance, release of the female wasp’s pheromone and the flower’s height. When the male wasp grabs hold of the flower and attempts to fly away with its prize, the orchid snaps the wasp forward, successfully transferring pollen to the wasp so that it will pollinate the next “female” it tries to capture.

Pseudocopulation series 2 of 5 – Mirror Orchid and
Campsoscolia Ciliata Wasp 2010
13″ x 13″
Ophyrus Speculum, “Mirror Orchid” seduces male Campsoscolia Ciliata Wasps the same way that Ophyrus Sphegodes, “Early Spider Orchid” does. Both orchids produce more of the chemically identical female bee pheromone in order to win the male bees over their female counterparts.

Pseudocopulation series 3 0f 5 – Bee Orchid and
Longhorned Bee 2010
13″ x 13″
Ophrys Apifera, the “Bee Orchid”, takes advantage of the male Longhorned Bee’s competitive nature. The male bees will sometimes burrow into nests where the females will be born. They are much larger than the females, so that they have the best chance of winning a fight over a female. Ophyrs Apifera blooms are large enough to accommodate the large males and appear low to the ground, near nests.

Pseudocopulation series 4 0f 5 – Fly Orchid and Golden
Diggerfly Wasp 2010
13″ x 13″

Ophrys Insectifera, also known as “Fly Orchid”, imitates the appearance of the female Digger
Wasp with bright colors and a similar shape. Since Male Digger Wasps only mate close to the ground, the orchids also flower low to the ground. The males are fooled into thinking these flowers are their prospective mates and pollinate the plants as they go from flower to flower.

Pseudocopulation series 5 0f 5 – Early Spider Orchid and
Andrena Nigroaenea Bee 2010
13″ x 13″
Ophrys Sphegodes, “Early Spider Orchid”, attracts the male Adrena Nigroaenea Bee with its bright colors that mimic the female bee. Stranger still, this orchid omits the exact pheromone that the virgin female bee possesses, to attract her mates. Due to more concentrated amounts of the pheromone, the male bees actually prefer the flower to the virgin female of its own species.

INSECTICIDE ARTIST STATEMENT
My inspiration is finding visual and metaphorical relationships to the human body in plants and flowers, addressing an objectified physical identity of beauty, which can be perceived as grotesque or taboo. These insect paintings explore the unusual intimate relationships of certain species of Orchids and insects.

BIO
Renée Antoinette Fox was born on October 15, 1973 in Frederick, MD. She was schooled in various artistic disciplines, languages and religion as an adolescent at the Visitation Academy, Catholic School for girls. Renée began her professional art education in 1997 at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington DC. While at the Corcoran, Renée studied classical painting techniques under the mentorship of Professor William Newman, assisted in his studio and worked as a teaching assistant. During this time, she was active in showing and selling her work independently and through DC galleries. In 2000, Renée relocated to Los Angeles, CA and earned her BFA in 2002 from Otis College of Art and Design where she studied with mentor, Professor Linda Burnham. She acquired valuable knowledge in an apprenticeship with Linda, working as her studio assistant, archivist for the Robert Overby collection and as her teaching assistant at the college. Differences in the natural environment such as the quality of light and California landscape have been strong influences in her work. Los Angeles, and her current home in Inglewood proves to be an exciting and supportive art scene and an inspiring place for Renée to continue with her art career. Since moving to the city of Inglewood, Renée has brought a cohesiveness and pride to the unusually, highly talented yet under recognized community of artists that live within the city, by organizing the annual Inglewood Open Studios and concerning herself with local politics that affect the artist community. She continues to work toward a legal live/work status for the city’s artists. Renée was awarded a month long artist residency at the Julia and David White Artist Colony in Costa Rica in April, 2005. She currently shows and sells her work  to private collectors, independently, through select professionals, the Loft at Liz’s in Los Angeles and K. Saari Gallery in Steamboat Springs, CO.