THE COLLECTOR
This brief challenged me to create a reproduction of a butterfly crafted from human hair.
I choose the book The Collector by John Fowles, a dramatic story that tells how a lonely man, passionate for collecting butterflies and photography, falls in love with an artistic and clever student. He stalks her until he succeeds in kidnapping and imprisoning her in his Sussex house, believing she will grow to love him in time.
I decided to focus on the strongest passions of the protagonist; Frederick loves collecting butterflies and loves Miranda. I combined these two elements into an image, making a new butterfly made from hair, because Frederick is attracted by Miranda’s beauty, especially by her lovely hair, a symbol of her femininity.
Miranda becomes a part of Frederick's collection; the butterfly made of hair is labeled as would be a butterfly in a prized collection.