British artist and illustrator Mark Oliver calls his on-going series of assemblages Litter Bugs, but they’re much more than the name might imply. A childhood fascination with his father’s collection of electrical and engineering components influenced his creation of these intricately-crafted and imaginative creatures. Oliver painstakingly collects objects like mechanical gears, old tins, eyeglass arms, and more as raw materials for his work. He then arranges items into fictitious insects, assigns them scientific names, and places the finished pieces into handmade wooden frames.
Oliver’s specimen-like treatment of his artwork is a nod to the Victorian tradition of insect collecting, which is the trapping and displaying of bugs for study. His work is fascinating from a distance and reveals its beauty up close. Make sure you carefully inspect these “bugs” so that you don’t miss out on seeing all of the interesting components that Oliver has amassed over time.
