– from a private collection
Created as part of my Bestiary of the Automata Collection in 2014. The mother is a White Lined Sphinx Moth I found on my car door with damp wings unable to fly. I put her in a container with paper towels to help her wings dry. When I checked in her it turns out that she laid 69 eggs and then died. I did research and tried my best to help these caterpillars hatch and survive. Only 10 lived on to pupate into moths. I preserved some the caterpillars that did not survive and immortalized them in this sculpture with their mother. The base Is created from an antique clock. I installed a music box into the clock face. On top of the base are three glass spheres. Inside of the side spheres is a scene of the caterpillar children of sitting on sea holly plants set in preservation gel. The mother is set in the middle sphere adorned with delicate brass filigree,watch parts, and a genuine peridot gemstone set in 14k gold. . When the hand crank is turned the mother moves up and down and flaps her wings.