Artist Laura Hart is fascinated by Earths creatures. Inspired by the seemingly endless visual diversity of fauna, she restores them through striking glass art. Her Lepidoptera series depicts endangered and rare butterflies with stunning attention to detail. Hart was able to realistically represent the different patterns and shapes on the wings. "Each specimen is carefully crafted to mimic its natural form," Hart said. "The wings were created by fusing glass in several stages, while the body was cast using a lost wax process and deep deposition techniques. The legs, antennae, etc. were cast in sterling silver to create the detail." Once completed, The sculpture is approximately seven inches wide.
Although glass is a relatively easily reproducible material, Hart limited each glass sculpture to just one. She said: "Given that many species of butterflies and moths are endangered, we can only create one of each species or subspecies, and their uniqueness and vulnerability exacerbate the threat of extinction for these organisms."
Artist Laura Hart creates butterfly glass sculptures based on rare or endangered butterflies.
