Ministry of the Worm
2024
6″ x 6″
glass, solder, copper foil – zinc channel, brass wire
$350
I have always been intrigued by the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. A metaphoric Christophany of nature paralleling the life of Christ, demonstrated by different stages of the insect. This piece takes inspiration of the pupa or caterpillar form, or as some would say “worm”.
The scene shows a late-stage monarch caterpillar, approaching the end of its life, feeding on its sole food source – milk weed, preparing for the coming transformation. The “worm” will soon become a chrysalis, seemingly physically dead, but yet still very much spiritually alive. This work could very well be the first work of a triptych and may be the first version for a study of the Life-Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly. A natural second frame, would be the representation of the Chrysalis – mirroring the Crucifixion. The final element – the “Resurrection” as the Chrysalis arises into the mighty Monarch – the King.
This piece is constructed in the copper foil method. Glass cut and wrapped in foil and soldered together. Color choices were made to be representational of the subject, and hues, textures and translucency were determined in consideration that the piece is to be displayed with backlighting. The “worm” itself is seen to rise out of the scene as it reaches over the stem to munch on the fringe of the next leaf, out of the plane of the background elements. The wonderment of the spiritual, embodied in the natural, represented by the physical, – the Worm.
Gordon Maretzki