Razzle Dazzle Melanism

These large-scale collage prints combine two different camouflage concepts: razzle dazzle patterns, developed in World War I to disguise warships, and industrial melanism, the phenomenon of moths evolving darker wing pigmentation in response to environmental soot from the 18th-century Industrial Revolution.

Butterflies and moths have well-known natural camouflage tactics to conceal themselves from predators or to mimic other, poisonous species. They’re also fragile, and heavily impacted by human alterations to their natural habitats. In this project, applying human-made camouflage patterns to moth and butterfly wings is a way of conceptualizing what alterations wild lifeforms might go through to survive the impacts of human development. Each panel is collaged with multiple screenprints, cut and arranged to form the wing silhouettes.