PORTRAITS OF METAMORPHOSIS

 
 

This zine introduces the biology of metamorphosis and showcases the juvenile forms of a dozen different metamorphosing species. Each species was selected based on interviews with real people. Its research and creation were a major focus of my artist residency at Industry Lab, a co-working space in Cambridge, MA, in the first half of 2023. The zine debuted at my solo show there, along with other pieces themed around metamorphosis and a personal zine-making station.

PROCESS

I began the project by asking for volunteer interviewees and accumulating scientific literature about metamorphosis. One-by-one, I asked volunteers from the Industry Lab community the same set of nine questions about childhood sensory memories, their expectations about growing up, and the path they actually took. Although most individuals worked in tech startups, I was astounded by the range of distances they had traveled to find home, their identities, and to overcome adversities.

Journal comic of when I presented my residency project idea to the Industry Lab community.

Process photo for Portraits of Metamorphosis zine. Binder of interview transcripts laying open with a sketch book and loose paper sketches of a couple animals. The sketchbook shows my messy spread layouts.

Interview transcripts, species sketches, and zine planning notes.

After a total of nineteen interviews, I began pouring through the audio transcripts and my written notes. For each person, I highlighted distinguishing aspects of their responses and then returned to the scientific literature to find a metamorphosing species that paralleled them in some way. A few people were doubled up and a total of twelve species were selected for portraits. The final zine has each of these portraits framed by quotes from the interviewed individuals (with some edits for brevity and clarity), and an introduction about the biology of metamorphosis.

The zine cover was riso printed by Risolve and the interiors digitally printed by Gnomon Copy.

THE SHOW

 
Flyer with a frog, beetle, and crab for my metamorphosis-themed art exhibit with live music. Each animal has the name of a different live act on its back.

Flyer for the closing reception.

 

Attendees were invited to fill out a template zine about an individual metamorphosis. I was amazed by people’s creativity: some told their own personal stories, a few personified animals and other beings, and one person used it as vehicle to interview their parent and learn more about them.

Thanks to the Industry Lab staff, performers, and attendees for making the closing reception such a special evening.

REFERENCES

  • Bishop, C. D., D. F. Erezyilmaz, T. Flatt, C. D. Georgiou, M. G. Hadfield, A. Heyland, J. Hodin, et al. “What Is Metamorphosis?” Integrative and Comparative Biology 46, no. 6 (December 1, 2006): 655–61. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icl004.

    Degnan, Bernard M., and Sandie M. Degnan. “How Larvae and Life Cycles Evolve.” Trends in Genetics 39, no. 7 (July 1, 2023): 528–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2023.03.008.

  • BURYING BEETLE

    Scott, Michelle Pellissier. “The Ecology and Behavior of Burying Beetles.” Annual Review of Entomology 43, no. 1 (1998): 595–618. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ento.43.1.595.

    EUROPEAN EEL

    Cresci, Alessandro. “A Comprehensive Hypothesis on the Migration of European Glass Eels (Anguilla Anguilla).” Biological Reviews 95, no. 5 (2020): 1273–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12609.

    GIANT WATERBUG

    Munguía-Steyer, Roberto, Erik González-García, Clara E. Castaños, and Alex Córdoba-Aguilar. “Costly Parenting: Physiological Condition over Time and Season in Males of the Giant Waterbug Abedus Dilatatus.” Physiological Entomology 44, no. 3–4 (2019): 236–44. https://doi.org/10.1111/phen.12299.

    GREEN SHORE CRAB

    Duarte, Rafael C., Ana Ré, Augusto A. V. Flores, and Henrique Queiroga. “Conspecific Cues Affect Stage-Specific Molting Frequency, Survival, and Claw Morphology of Early Juvenile Stages of the Shore Crab Carcinus Maenas.” Hydrobiologia 724, no. 1 (February 1, 2014): 55–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1712-5.

    HONEY BEE

    Dogantzis, Kathleen A., Tanushree Tiwari, Ida M. Conflitti, Alivia Dey, Harland M. Patch, Elliud M. Muli, Lionel Garnery, et al. “Thrice out of Asia and the Adaptive Radiation of the Western Honey Bee.” Science Advances 7, no. 49 (December 3, 2021): eabj2151. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj2151.

    KOH TAO ISLAND CAECILIAN
    Dünker, Nicole, Marvalee H. Wake, and Wendy M. Olson. “Embryonic and Larval Development in the Caecilian Ichthyophis Kohtaoensis (Amphibia, Gymnophiona): A Staging Table.” Journal of Morphology 243, no. 1 (2000): 3–34. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4687(200001)243:1<3::AID-JMOR2>3.0.CO;2-D.

    LAMPREY

    Manion, Patrick J., and Thomas M. Stauffer. “Metamorphosis of the Landlocked Sea Lamprey, Petromyzon Marinus.” Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 27, no. 10 (October 1970): 1735–46. https://doi.org/10.1139/f70-194.

    POLYCHAETE

    Fischer, Antje HL, Thorsten Henrich, and Detlev Arendt. “The Normal Development of Platynereis Dumerilii (Nereididae, Annelida).” Frontiers in Zoology 7, no. 1 (December 30, 2010): 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-9994-7-31.

    ROTIFER
    Hochberg, Rick, Hui Yang, Adele Hochberg, Elizabeth J. Walsh, and Robert L. Wallace. “When Heads Are Not Homologous: The Coronae of Larval and Adult Collothecid Rotifers (Rotifera: Monogononta: Collothecaceae).” Hydrobiologia 844, no. 1 (November 1, 2019): 191–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3760-3.

    SEA HARE

    Kriegstein, Arnold R., Vincent Castellucci, and Eric R. Kandel. “Metamorphosis of Aplysia Californica in Laboratory Culture.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 71, no. 9 (September 1974): 3654–58. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.71.9.3654.

    SEA URCHIN

    Gaylord, Brian, Jason Hodin, and Matthew C. Ferner. “Turbulent Shear Spurs Settlement in Larval Sea Urchins.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, no. 17 (April 23, 2013): 6901–6. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1220680110.

    SPADEFOOT TOAD

    Pfennig, David W., Hudson K. Reeve, and Paul W. Sherman. “Kin Recognition and Cannibalism in Spadefoot Toad Tadpoles.” Animal Behaviour 46, no. 1 (July 1, 1993): 87–94. https://doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1993.1164.