Book Art

"Lepidoptera", David Plotnick, Book Art,  9" x 12" x 1.5", 2010

When making this piece, something happen over the weekend.  My parents are separated and are in the process of getting a divorce.  Being a college student and having this happen is a much different experience than if you were a little kid and had to go through this.  I never thought it was my fault or anything but it certainly feels like you aren't safe coming home.  You feel isolated from the experience because you are away from your family, and it sometimes make me question the relationships I will have in the future.  I feel vulnerable when tell something this personal, despite being around comforting friends.  This piece is my attempt at gaining closure from the experience.  The butterflies represent marriages.  While they are beautiful and colorful, they are not alive and so they are preserved in the glass as a metaphor to preserving the memories of marriage.  Lepidoptera is the family of insect that the butterfly belongs to in the animal kingdom.