WHEN it comes to moths as works of art, they can also be a metaphor for the benefits of migration.
Nocturnal pollinators without borders, moths inspired US artist Hilary Lorenz to design a “Moth Migration Project” that would see thousands of hand-painted moths come flying to her from around the world.
Lorenz sees the paper moths crowd-sourced from around the world as a symbol of communication in both the physical and digital world and “a tool for building communities of diverse cultures, ages, and nationalities”.
The hand drawn and cut paper moths started arriving after Lorenz published an invited on social media for people to depict moths native to their geographic location.
“The moths become a symbol of the global network with currently over 20,000 submissions from 26 countries,” Lorenz says.
Her Moth Migration Project “created a spirit more significant than any single community by fostering authentic connections and engaging public participation through a synergy of shared experience and embracing mutual respect for personal uniqueness and creativity”.
“The spirit of belonging is elevated when each moth making participant receives their own postcard certification of recognition acknowledging their outstanding contribution.”
Lorenz says using crowdsourcing to create art “dramatically changed my role and my practice”.
“As an artist, I almost always work alone. Now, I feel like a conductor holding it together, encouraging each person to roll with their idea.”
She had a vision “and I knew that if I welcomed everyone in, it would be far more magnificent”.
Hilary Lozenz’s Moth Migration Project opened at Oak Hill Gallery, 100 Mornington-Tyabb Road, Mornington on Sunday 1 September.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 3 September 2019
