Where Do Honey Bees Go?

Gleichenia is pleased to announce the solo exhibition "Where Do Honey Bees Go?" at tata bookshop/gallery.

Honey bees, which communicate with their companions through song-like sounds and zigzag dances while moving from flower to flower to carry pollen, are essential supporters of rich ecosystems. Without their presence, crops and plants would be unable to bear fruit, drop seeds, and connect to the next generation of life.

The honey they produce has been used as medicine, and beeswax with its high antibacterial and moisturizing properties has been used to treat burns and wounds, as well as for candles that illuminate our daily lives, providing us with many blessings for thousands of years. However, it is also true that their activities are being hindered by various factors including rapid climate change and environmental changes, pesticides, selective breeding, and other human interventions, putting the balance of ecosystems in crisis.

This exhibition will present an installation composed of Gleichenia's jewelry collection inspired by their fascinating behaviors and collage works by Kanako Ikegaya.

Gleichenia will present the new "BEE" series, characterized by gentle connections between different materials, including pendants made of glass and silver with organic silhouettes that evoke scooping up softly dripping honey, and brooches and earrings born from observing rhythmic and joyful movements like pointillistic dotting.

Kanako Ikegaya's collage works were born from attraction to the traces of continuous movement as non-verbal communication, and the bees' habit of spinning new phenomena while transforming space to mediate pollen. Various materials including glass, graphite, and ceramics are composed without separating their respective differences as they sit adjacent to each other.

By focusing on the diverse relationships of honey bees that spread in changing forms and shapes as mediators of various lives and activities, and creating a space where collage works and jewelry featuring fresh flowers and fruits resonate together, we hope this will provide an opportunity to reflect on the richness of invisible connections.

We cordially invite you to view the exhibition.