Bug Art by Steven R Kutcher: About the Artist

In 1978 Kutcher created and taught a class entitled Living With Insects at Glendale Community College. This class was multidisciplinary in scope and focused the relationship between insects and the arts. In the 1980’s he was asked if he could make a fly walk through ink and leave footprints for a TV project Steven Spielberg was executive producing and Kutcher figured out how to make an insect leave fly footprints.

Currently he lectures on insects and the arts and has a collection of images showing the diversity of insects in both creative and commercial endeavors.

In 2003 He Met Patricia Watts who was compiling works for an exhibit of art relating to insects called Bugeyed (opened 2004). Although his works do not appear in that exhibit she thought his work might be good for that exhibit and that initiated the insect-art synthesis that is currently being created. This work is part of his lectures on natural and primitive art in which he uses natural products like charcoal and ochre to produce art.

Steven Kutcher has had well over 100 articles written about him including articles in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Detroit News, and Science World. He has appeared on many TV and radio programs including The Tonight Show, Late Night With David Letterman, Sunday Today, NBC; The Garry Shandling Show (nominated for an Emmy), The Scoop GB (episode won BFTA) and many international interviews. In 1990 The National Geographic did a short documentary on his work in education and the film industry.

His knowledge of arachnids and their behavior led him to work with arthropods on over 80 feature films including "Arachnophobia," "Jurassic Park," and "Spiderman."

His innovative involvement with insects has included entering a bathtub on TV and having it filled up with mealworms. He has also taken care of 3000 African grasshoppers for six months, kept 6000 large darkling beetles in his living room, and put bugs on naked women for movies. He has enjoyed working with insects and many famous people, as well as, working with children and enjoying the joy insects bring into their lives.

In 2003 he started showing his insect footprint art at his speaking engagements at University of Ill, Texas Tech, and other Educational venues. He has demonstrated his insect art in an art class at Chaffee College and has showed his work at environmental organizations. Kutcher is currently working with new insects and techniques to create this enchanting visionary art. For a list of current and past exhibits (see Exhibits tab).

Rev. 1/15/08

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Philosophy

“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible.”

— Paul Klee

I have made visible the hidden world of the insect footprint. When an insect walks on your hand, you may feel the legs move but nothing visible remains, only a sensation. These works of art render these insect tracks and routes visible, producing a visually pleasing piece while conveying pertinent, scientific information.

My paintings highlight the connection between science and art; between the natural environment and the human experience; between classic art techniques and abstract expressionism; and between an emotive natural, organic style and creative, constructive ideas.

My artistic appreciation for color, line, and form helps me to translate these small creatures into living brushes. My lifelong passion for insects (in the entertainment industry as well as my academic expertise) gives me an exceptional understanding of insect behavior associated with art and I am able to anticipate their movement as it relates to the canvas.

History of arthropods in art. Studies in cultural entomology (Cultural Entomology Charles Hogue, Ann. Rev Entomol. V.32, 1987) reveal insects have been used as the subject of art since primitive man drew the first insect. Examples of insects in art include prehistoric renditions which included insects, ancient Chinese painting, Egyptian Scarabs and in the imaginative still-life paintings of 17 Century Flemish and European still-life painters (Insekten in der bildenden Kunst. Erwin Schimitschek, 1977). Still-life painters included flowers that blossom at different times of years were creatively painted together. Local insects were often incorporated on flowers and objects found on furniture in these paintings. In the 20th century Salvidore Dali, Rene Magritte and many other artists used insects as subjects for their art. Contemporary 21st century artists still use insect images (Butterfly Cooing like a Dove. Miriam Rothschild, 1991). Examples of artists using insect images in art (see Exhibits tab) where insects are either the main subject of the art or part of it.

Rev. 11/1/07

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Inspiring Quotes About Art

"First I saw the mountains in the painting; then I saw the painting in the mountains."

— Chinese Proverb

"A man paints with his brains and not with his hands."

— Michelangelo (1475–1564), Italian Renaissance artist

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things."

— Edgar Degas (1834–1917), French Impressionist artist

"Painting is very easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do."

— Edgar Degas

"Drawing and color are not separate at all; in so far as you paint, you draw. The more color harmonizes, the more exact the drawing becomes. When the color achieves richness, the form attains its fullness also."

— Paul Cezanne (1839–1906), French Post-Impressionist painter. Quoted by Emile Bernard, L'Occident, July, 1904

"PAINTING, n: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic."

— Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914), American writer. The Cynic's Word Book, also known as The Devil's Dictionary, 1906

"Whenever I see a Frans Hals I feel like painting, but when I see a Rembrandt I feel like giving up!"

— Max Liebermann (1847–1935)

"Painting is stronger than I am. It can make me do whatever it wants."

— Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), modern Spanish artist. A note written on the back of one of his sketchbooks

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

— Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), modern Spanish artist

"Painting is a blind man's profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen."

— Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), Spanish artist. Quoted in: Jean Cocteau, Journals, Part 1, "War and Peace" (1956)

"The painting has a life of its own."

— Jackson Pollock (1912–1956), American Abstract Expressionist painter

"Painting is an attempt to come to terms with life. There are as many solutions as there are human beings."

— George Tooker (1920–), contemporary American painter

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