I'm writing an artist's statement for this photo for an upcoming show at the Davis Art Gallery. What do you think of this?



I once suffered from an intense fear of spiders. Finally, one summer's afternoon as I ran shrieking from a spider which seemed the size of Clydesdale but with far too many hairy legs, I decided to take action. Spiders were simply one more member of our web of life and they served a valuable purpose in our ecosphere.

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -- Dalai Lama

And so I embarked on a quest to photograph spiders. I actively sought them out. At first I shied away from their bristling pedipalps and multi-legged movement. But then, slowly, over time, I began to appreciate the beauty in their delicate forms. The innocent wide-eyed hope in the Audax jumping spider. The patient serenity in the daddy long-legs who lived for a summer in our basil plant. I mourned him when he passed away.

When a cobweb spider decided that an uneaten apple was the perfect home sweet home, I didn't have the heart to disagree. And so, over the course of several months, I documented the quiet life of my littlest pet. The way the apple slowly folded in on itself. The skin's crisping and darkening. The patient serenity of the Steatoda borealis which called this fruit home. I waited until the spider's life had run its course before placing the last remains of the apple-home into the back yard, for its final task to nourish wildlife.

And then the cycle begins again.

"From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity." -- Edvard Munch


Lisa Shea, Low Carb and Video Games Editor
Low Carb Forum