This project is a series of illustrations about the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), one of the most famous extinct birds in the world. The dodo can be seen as a symbol of many things: out-of-trends, clumsy behaviors, and things that disappear so quickly. According to the research about the etymology of its name ‘dodo’, we can see the colonists initially treated this kind of flightless birds with contempt because dodos are lazy, clumsy and not afraid of humans. However, for my project, I define the dodo as a symbol of a leisurely attitude of life, which is out of tune with the fast-paced modern society, but still deserves to be respected and cherished. I am going to represent the last dodo family in the world, which is away from the cruel environment and human predation, and enjoy their life in a fairyland.
This project is inspired by Fabre’s Book of Insects. Fabre has introduced a particular kind of wasp, which lay their eggs in the body of other insects or spiders. The victim is usually the caterpillar. After a special anesthetization, the caterpillar will lose the control of its body, and witness the process of being eaten alive by wasp babies. From this phenomenon, I find the nature is beautiful, miraculous, and highly beyond the standard of morality in human society. In the past, because of the misunderstanding of parasitic relations, people used to describe it as that the wasp was taking care of the caterpillar. In ancient China, there were even poems and idioms which eulogize the relationship between the wasp and the prey. I define it as the self-sentimental imagination of our human beings, which is totally different from the truth. I want to represent the tragedy of a caterpillar in anthropomorphic way, and discuss the contrast between people’s romantic imagination and the cruel fact.
This project is based on four key concepts about mantis: disguise, divinity, sexual cannibalism and Kong fu, which is about how people recognize mantis and mantis behaviour.
As a common kind of insects that can be found in almost every continent, mantis have a variety of appearances and habits. In Southeast Asia, a beautiful orchid mantis will disguise itself as an orchid to deceive its prey. In Africa, there are some legends that the praying mantis is the incarnation of the creator god called Cagn. There are also some cultures in which mantis is a messenger between life and death. Another iconic feature of mantis is sexual cannibalism, that represents the cruel side of this beautiful and powerful creature. The violin mantis is included. At last, as mighty predators, mantis have influenced some Kong fu genres.
This project is inspired by the experience of William Cimillo, who stole a bus and escaped from the New York City. William has mentioned that the reason why he stole the bus was that he ‘just want to get away from everything’. I am inspired by the sentence and decide to use it as the theme of my picture book.
