Statement

Artist's Statement Insects are the most fascinating, diverse, stunningly beautiful creatures I know, yet they often go unseen or ignored. The object of my art is to simply present insects as they are; by stripping away background distractions and magnifying the details, I try to persuade a closer look and a fuller appreciation of these exquisite creatures. I aim for complete biological accuracy in my illustrations, partly because I feel I can scarcely improve upon 400 million years of evolution, but also so that my finished pieces function to teach the viewer about the insect.

My artwork is rooted strongly in my education as a biologist. I work from a combination of live insect observation and photo references in order to get correct positioning of legs, wings and other appendages. Then I fill in the anatomical details by studying pinned or preserved specimens from museum and university collections. Nothing helps me learn about an organism like the sustained intense focus required to draw it accurately, and the process of creating an illustration is as much discovery as it is documentation. I hope that viewers of my work share my delight in that discovery.

Biography

Rachel MaKarrall grew up in the woods of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, where her parents were kind enough to keep her in art supplies until she went off to college to study biology. Her primary interests in life are entomology, education, and art, and she is happiest whenever she gets to combine two or more of these. She finds few things more enjoyable than staring down a microscope at the underside of a beetle and translating its intricate anatomy into lines, shapes and values on a page. As she draws, her mind becomes quiet, the tension in her body eases, and she loses track of time. Art-making is a source of joy and healing in her life, and she almost always emerges from a drawing session feeling sharper and more relaxed.

When she is not drawing biology, she is teaching it, in traditional college science classrooms as well as local public schools and nature centers. She lives and works in northern Minnesota with her wonderful husband and two fantastic cats.