A new art exhibit in the Center Art Gallery explores the fragility of bees and reckons with their rapid decline in the world. Artists Craig Goodworth and David Hooker created multimedia pieces about bees, giving audiences a new perspective on the creatures.

During an exhibition on March 28, Goodworth offered insights into his work. He explained that his goal in this exhibit was to “witness the fragility of bees through my art.” Goodworth has a background in science, having done grad work in sustainability before pursuing art full time. Goodworth spoke about the value of his blended career, saying, “Our problems are too big for one discipline.”  He called bees an “icon for the crisis [of extinction] in the world.”

Walking into the exhibit, the first thing that visitors come across is a row of cast bronze honeycombs, an intricate study in texture. The main gallery contains several paintings of bees. The edges of the creatures are fuzzy and blended, seeming to capture motion, but also their fragility and impermanence. Farther in, there is a wall covered in drawings, all with bees as their subjects. In the middle of the exhibit is a hundred-year-old bee box from Slovakia, and a labyrinth covered in clay bees invites audiences to walk within it and spend time in meditation and reflection.  

“Bees: an exhibition” will be on display in the CFAC’s Center Art Gallery until April 27.