LEPIDOPTERA
NIGHT MAGIC
Film + music by Anthony Childs | Paintings by Deborah Davis
Opening Reception: August 5, 5-7pm
On view August 5 - September 25, 2021
ABOUT THIS
EXHIBITION
Once the sun sets, a new world awakens. Butterflies and bees are replaced by fluttering insects seen only briefly, never for long or with enough light to be truly appreciated.
Lepidoptera: Night Magic shines a bright UV light on moths, subtly magnificent creatures who fill important roles in our ecosystems but areoften overlooked in favor of their showy butterfly cousins. Featuring works by Deborah Davis and Anthony Childs, this exhibition celebrates these unseen insects and their impact on our world.
PUBLIC
PROGRAM
Deborah Davis | Fervid Plgaodis (Plagodis fervidaria) | 2021 | Acrylic on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | SOLD
Deborah Davis | Copper Underwing (Amphipyra pyramidoides) | 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | AVAILABLE
Deborah Davis | Blackberry Looper (Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria) | 2021 | Acrylic on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | SOLD
Deborah Davis | Rose Hooktip (Oreta rosea) | 2020 | Acrylic on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | AVAILABLE
Deborah Davis | Lappet Moth (Phyllodesma americana) | 2020 | Acrylic on canvas | 40 x 30 inches | AVAILABLE
Deborah Davis | Yellow Vested Moth (Rectiostoma xanthobasis) | 2020 | Acrylic on canvas | 40 x 30 inches | AVAILABLE
Deborah Davis | Curved Tooth Geometer (Eutrapela clemataria) | 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | AVAILABLE
Deborah Davis | American Bird’s Wing (Dypterygia rozmani) | 2020 | Acrylic on canvas | 40 x 30 inches | AVAILABLE
Deborah Davis | Azalea Sphinx (Darapsa choerlius) | 2019 | Acrylic on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | SOLD
ANTHONY
CHILDS
Stills from the Cinematic Mothestra, courtesy of the artist.
ANTHONY
CHILDS
Anthony Childs is a night owl and guitarist who finds that photography helps sooth creative droughts in music.
Childs’ main interest in photography is the ability to use macro shots to show what isn't often seen due to size or perspective. He loves the discovery of abstract atmospheres or textures not normally seen by the unaided eye. His interest in moths fits into this perfectly due to their seemingly endless variety, multi-stage life cycle, and impermanence. Time, decay, and ephemerality figure into almost anything Childs does creatively.
His videos in Lepidoptera: Night Magic are an extension of these interests. Sounds in Brief Story mix separate recordings of moths and other insects colliding with, crawling on/over/in The Mothestra, a deconstructed piano that Childs altered to capture the sounds of the insects. Trilled strings are the beating wings brushing the treble strings; collision sounds were combined/stacked to give the impression of an intensely busy industrial environment. Some of these same sounds were separately treated with delays, reverbs, or other treatments and reintroduced to the environment elsewhere. Interspersed are brief guitar instrumentals, portions of which were also warped out of recognition to achieve a mood/ texture/ theme. Essentially you are only hearing, bugs, bugs crashing into strings and microphones, birds, environmental sounds and an acoustic guitar (bare or amplified and with effects)
Further music is available to hear/ purchase at dearblackgold.bandcamp.com and 35% of any digital music sales during the exhibition will be donated to The Arts Center in Orange.
DEBORAH
DAVIS
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Deborah Davis studied painting at Virginia Commonwealth University and has a passion for moths. At night, she lures these “shamans of the forest” close with UV lights and a cotton sheet.
When an appealing moth makes an appearance, Davis places it gently in a jar and puts it in the refrigerator for a few hours. Once the moth is chilled and lethargic, she will place it on a piece of paper near the sliding glass door of her home in Albermarle County, photograph it, and then release it. Following this encounter, she paints the image of the moth on a 30 x 40 inch canvas. Through careful attention to the intricate patterns and colors of each specimen, Davis shares her appreciation for the beauty, delicacy, and diversity of these oft-unseen creatures.
Deborah Davis has focused on large-scale moth paintings for the last decade, and her paintings have been exhibited at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, The Science Museum of Virginia, Warm Springs Gallery, Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Virginia Natural History Museum, Carspecken Scott Gallery, UVA’s McIntire School of Commerce, The Museum of York County, South Carolina, and the USGS headquarters. In 2018, she was selected as Artist of the Year for The Moss Rock Festival in Birmingham, Alabama. Articles about Davis’ work have been published in The Washington Post and Garden and Gun Magazine.
For further information on Deborah Davis, visit her website at: https://mothpaintings.com or follow her on Instagram @mothpainter
LEPIDOPTERA: Night Magic is supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
