Thursday 13 February 2014

Cemetery Cicadas

Yesterday I met Mum at a special place I know where the cicadas are super abundant. The spot is a cemetery with a large grove of some lovely tall trees and the noise of cicada song is deafening. I was collecting the skins the cicada pupae moult when they emerge from the ground and become adults. We "picked" cicadas for an hour or so filling plastic shopping bags with the little buggers. They are resources for future artworks - I have done quite a series using them as my chosen material. When we finished we celebrated with a picnic of cold chicken. While eating I contemplated and realised it's not everyone's Mum who would help pick cicada skins (but I must admit it's not the worst thing she has been roped into.)              
                     
 
I photographed these as I realised they represent at least 3 or 4 different species. The tiny one I have never come across before and only measured around 15mm, half the size of the largest cicada.
 



My "Cicada Tree" above was a work I completed last year as part of my Advanced Diploma.

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