Essential Workers: Clocking On

Three bees report for duty. The air is too poisoned to work without protection, so they’ve strapped on respirators and are turning up anyway. Black ink and a cloud of yellow surround them as they stand in line, each facing the shift ahead. Nobody asked them to do this and nobody will thank them, but the world depends on it.

The yellow is silver stain, which is absorbed into the surface of the glass and fired to a deep gold rather than sitting on top of it. The bees themselves are screen printed in black enamel, so the whole image is fused into a single sheet of glass and will not fade or flake. The glass is held in a freestanding hardwood box frame, so it can sit on a shelf, mantel or sideboard without hanging.

Part of Essential Workers: bees, and the people who step in when the bees can’t, doing the work the world depends on.

Details: Silver stain and black enamel screenprint on a single sheet of glass, freestanding hardwood box frame. Landscape format, glass size 23.5 x 29 cm (9.3 x 11.4 in), height by width. Handmade by the artist.