Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

It could be the surface of Mars, snapped by a passing space probe.
But it isn’t. It is probably the first work of art by an insect. Called
Night visitor, the image was created by allowing an earwig to trot across
boards covered with soot from burning candles. ‘It struck me that the earwig
was a living pencil,’ says Adrian Bannon, the human artist who worked with
the insect.

The picture is one of four works in a series called ‘Collabo-rations
with an earwig’. In another piece, Bannon allowed the earwig to walk around
his hand, creating a recognisable outline. ‘Artists draw insects, but in
this case the insect drew me,’ says Bannon. He kept his collaborator in
a jar for a week, setting it free in the garden once the works were finished.

Bannon’s works appear in an exhibition called ‘Nature studies’ which
runs until 30 April at the England & Co galleries in west London.