Mr & Mrs Ferguson

Sagebrush Bee, 2021

STEEL, HIGH DENSITY POLYSTYRENE BODY, CONCRETE, PENNIES

ARTIST STATEMENT:

This honeybee is large, just as those real, little bees are large in our lives. This is a tribute to the gift of pollination that bees give for our food. This is also a tribute to their beauty: Yellow fur, big eyes and golden wings. Get close. Draw your hands over this bee’s body. It’s delightful to touch as the fur is actually pennies. These pennies are whimsical, a reminder of our youthful innocence. This is a fun and friendly experience.

Created for the Sparks Art Walk, Sagebrush Bee stands on the anthers of Nevada’s state flower here in the high desert. Sagebrush Bee is the third unique bee created by Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson after they brought an 8 foot tall, 15 foot long honey bee to Burning Man.

ARTIST PROFILE:

Mr and Mrs Ferguson encourage interaction as they design their art to be approachable and provocative. They use materials that seem from a distance to be standard coatings like paint or steel, but on closer examination the viewer becomes a participant, discovering that the art is covered in whimsical materials like pennies or marbles.

The Fergusons became an art team after they met at, and later married, at Burning Man. Their installations can be seen in Tahoe City, CA, Santa Fe, NM, Telluride, CO and Richmond, CA. They have also shown in Washington, DC and San Jose, CA.

WEBSITE:

www.mr-and-mrs-ferguson.com
Instagram, Twitter: @mr_and_mrs_ferguson_art