Shortlived Love in the Grass

 2006, papers, photographs, gold leaf, burn, hobby grass, staples, string, ink, 6 x 12 inches.

This is the story of the female preying mantis that eats her mate after copulation.  I was made aware of this unusual practice when I was in second grade.  I found two preying mantises and put them in a box to take to Mr. Monroe the science teacher.  The next morning when I opened the box, there remained only one preying mantis, some wings and a big egg sack.  Shocking.  Later, in Rosalind Krauss class at Columbia, I learned that this custom is the inspiration for the expression “Vagina Dentata”.

Price on demand