Artist Statement:
The Monarch caterpillar with its bold yellow, black and white stripes seems to shout “look at me!”. A yellow/black colour combination is attention grabbing (it’s used as a hazard warning, on caution tape, and in brand marketing.) Yet artists know that mixing yellow and black pigments together results in green. From a distance the caterpillar is well camouflaged; the yellow and black blend into the green milkweed leaves. Only when a predator gets up close will it see the stripes and thus the caterpillar, but it will be warned away by another defence mechanism: warning colouration, or aposematism. This caterpillar was hiding in plain sight on a milkweed leaf outside my studio.
Currently traveling with Camouflage, a SAQA Global Exhibition.