A VAST, tiny WORLD

Did you ever imagine, with childhood wonder, being so tiny you could live among flowers as tall as trees and converse with miniscule creatures now the size of companions? Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, one of Charles Burchfield’s favorite books, portrays an anthropomorphic fantasy that materializes in many of his paintings and drawings. Insects and spiders are exaggerated in scale to give them agency. Their flight and sound patterns become visible, their animated energy captured in two-dimensional images.

In Burchfield’s art, oversized cicadas rattle metallically, crickets fiddle in the grass, and humming mosquitoes sting maddeningly. Twelve-spot skimmers dart over pond lilies. Colorful Monarch and Swallowtail Butterflies flutter in airy arabesques and inhabit dreams. Sporting wings emblazoned with crescent moons, Cecropia Moths provide an air of mystery to summer nights, and fireflies are “the most beautiful things of the evening.” In his arachnid world, a golden-orb spider weaves a glistening web that captures “drops of sunlight” that glide on gossamer. These windows onto a microcosmic world guide us to appreciate a world for which many of us are blind. His art hones personal observational abilities.

Artworks were drawn from the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s substantial art collection and archives and lent from private collections. They offer a glimpse into the artist’s fascination with some of the smallest creatures in the immense ecosystem we inhabit. Through his inventiveness, Burchfield is our nature guide. In addition, a few works by Western New York artists provide alternative views. Specimens and soundtracks of distinctive "insect songs" add to the verisimilitude and learning opportunities.

A VAST, tiny WORLD: Burchfield’s Insects and Spiders was curated by Burchfield Scholar Nancy Weekly and is presented through the generosity of the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation. For their meaningful support in memory of Harriet and Mortimer Spiller, we gratefully acknowledge Lora Spiller, Jill Spiller Underwood, and Harley Spiller. Our heartfelt appreciation, also, to Mrs. John Kociela, for her generous support. 

Related events, including a workshop on creating "doodle-bugs" based on Burchfield's doodles, and other activities, demonstrations, and a screening of Amanda Besl's videos will be presented during the run of the exhibition. An exhibition brochure documents this unusual subject.