Jiayi and Horace were invited by Ms. Elizabeth Thomas to speak on their ongoing collaborative project, Rethinking Pests: A Contemporary Art Practice Connecting Art, Science, and the Natural World, on Sept 18, 2025. Their lecture explored how contemporary art can intersect with entomological research to challenge anthropocentric narratives and spotlight the creative agency of non-human…

In the summer of 2024, Jiayi traveled to Jingdezhen, China, for ethnographic data collection for her PhD thesis work. During the three months there, She also collaborated with a unique species to create our new insect-ceramic series, titled Subterranean Creatures and Monuments (地下生物与纪念碑 ). We have never worked with this insect before, and we are…

Erwin Panofsky stated in the 1940s that “man is indeed the only animal to leave records behind him, for he is the only animal whose products ‘recall to mind’ an idea distinct from their material existence”. However, in the seemingly boundless expression of the superorganism, art created by ants features a strong post-humanist element, such…

In ant societies, where intricate underground nests are meticulously crafted, collective efforts revolve around the handling and transportation of soil particles. This intricate behavior unfolds as a series of actions: picking up objects, transporting them to specific locations, and carefully placing them down. What’s truly fascinating is that ants employ this precision in various scenarios,…

To create three-dimensional art beyond the two-dimensional paintings, H & J make ceramic sculptures that are re-constructed by whole colonies of ants.  This art series “renounces control and authorship of the work and allows it to evolve as a collective” (Miller, 2016, p.214). In aesthetic appreciation, the audience will see the complete “Ant City” from…