SOPHIE MYFANWY WELLAN
‘THE MYSTICAL BEE - The Canary in the Mine Shaft’ May 31st to June 29th, 2008
Feminine and fragile, the work of Sophie Wellan invites you to enter a subtle universe through the decoding of a complex web of symbols and signs. In this instance, in this exhibition, the message however, is direct. The natural order of the universe is tipping of equilibrium. Mankind is out of kilter with the natural balance which has sustained life on earth and beyond. With this exhibition Sophie focuses on the demise of the bee using charred bee frames assembled with found objects and materials embedded in encaustic wax. Central to the exhibiting space will be an installation piece.
Sophie writes: ‘Plants and animals remote in the scale of nature are bound together by a web of complex relations resulting from dependencies we have yet to fully understand. We are part of nature and there is a natural order balance and harmony that needs to be maintained in the dance of life.’ Bees are the most studied creature next to man, they have been on the planet for millions of years, silently going about there vital work. They are now seriously under threat, they are disappearing and there is growing fear for their survival.
Albert Einstein said ‘If honey bees become extinct, human society will follow in four years’.
In this exhibition I attempt to convey the connection we have with bees and our complete reliance on their existence for ours.
It is also an expression of my passion and love for them .I have borrowed text from a one hundred year old treatise on bees by the author and symbolist Maurice Maeterlinck who wrote ‘The Life Of The Bee' in 1901.
This exhibition celebrates the life and mysterious wonder of the bee. It also attempts to convey the desperate situation we now find ourselves in with their mass disappearance.’
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