INSECTICIDE AN ART EXHIBITION May 15 thru June 22, 2010

ARTIST STATEMENT

I have made visible the hidden world of the insect footprint. When an insect walks on most surfaces nothing visible remains. These works of art render these insect tracks and routes visible, producing a visually pleasing piece while conveying pertinent, scientific information. My artistic appreciation for color, line, and form helps me to translate these small creatures into living brushes.
My lifelong passion for insects (in the entertainment industry as well as my academic expertise) gives me an exceptional understanding of insect behavior associated with art.  The insects are used over again and I am able to anticipate or guide their movement as it relates to the canvas. My paintings highlight the connection between science and art; between the natural environment and the human experience; between classic art techniques and abstract expressionism; and between an emotive natural, organic style and creative, constructive ideas.  Unlike fleeting tracks the art remains and the footprints are amplified.

(Please see bottom of this page for image information)

BIO

Steven R Kutcher is an artist, teacher, lecturer, photographer, writer, radio personality, consultant, and
environmentalist. Working as a biological consultant for private industry, government agencies, the entertainment industry has earned him a worldwide reputation. He currently teaches biology part-time at West Los Angeles College and is active in educational entomology, art and outdoor education.

Steven R Kutcher had an early interest in both insects and art. At the age of four he collected fireflies and wild
berries in the Catskill Mountains in New York. When he was a child he received a professional
watercolor set from an uncle named Sam Shoulberg. Sam was an advertising artist for Chesterfield
cigarettes and the brother of Harry Shoulberg an east coast artist and teacher. Steven moved to California at
the age of five. In 1976, after graduating with his masters he became in involved with a local Long
Beach Art Gallery where he exhibited drawings and watercolor.

In 1978 Kutcher created and taught a class entitled Living With Insects at Glendale Community College.
This class was multidisciplinary in scope and focused the relationship between insects and the arts. In the
1980’s he was asked if he could make a fly walk through ink and leave footprints for a TV project Steven
Spielberg was executive producing and Kutcher figured out how to make an insect leave fly footprints.

Currently he lectures on insects and the arts and has a collection of images showing the diversity of insects in
both creative and commercial endeavors.

IMAGES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

1. “Beetle D”
Gouache on watercolor paper
15″ x 20″

2. “Beetle Waltz” 2004
Gouache on watercolor paper
15″ x 20″

3. “The Audience”
Gouache on watercolor paper
18″ x 24”