Fascinated with the distressed textures of peeling wallpaper and decaying surfaces, it seemed like a natural leap for Bristol-based artist Rose Sanderson when she began painting various insects on the covers of old books. We first took notice of the artist’s work on Colossal and fell in love with her exotic creatures that share the same fragility as the dissected volumes Sanderson uses as her canvas. “Painting the bugs on recycled book covers explores the narrative of life, e.g., the cycle of a moth or butterfly, or the fact that beetles feed from decay to create life,” she recently told us. The expressive, delicate works juxtaposed with fragments of vintage text, integrating the books’ fraying edges and gilded spines are simple, but stunning. Visit our gallery of bugs on books past the break, and let the artist know what you think in the comments below. You can see Sanderson’s work in person at AAF Melbourne on May 24, Thinkspace Gallery starting May 26, and at the Jamaica Street Open Studios in Bristol starting June 8.
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Spirama helicina
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Tailed butterfly
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Lophyra(lophyra)neglecta
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Wings of freedom
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Cicadidae
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Day flying moth
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Helicopis butterfly
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Helicopis pair i
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Melina bowtie butterflies
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Gloss swallowtail butterfly
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Harlequin beetle
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Mormolycephyllodes ( javanfiddlebeetle)
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Coleoptera cerambycidae lamiinae ii
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Sagra buqueti (jeweled frog beetle)
Image credit: Rose Sanderson
Zygaena-kappadokiae