Symbiotic Crisis
2014 - 2021

Humanity’s relationship with the environment is an integrated one and when Colony Collapse Disorder(CCD) in bees became a part of the vernacular I was making drawing installations of “bee swarms” in the back of a box truck. Using repurposed painted food tins, these pieces reference community, industry, and food systems. Reflective of nature studies and botanical drawings of old masters the methodical mark making and study creates a sense of authentic knowing, much like the repetitive nature of gathering materials, and even preparing the painted metal tins.

“So richly detailed, and as small in scale as the bees themselves, Arena’s work pulls viewers into a Lilliputian world, its very size an expression of the vulnerability of the honeybee.”

- Genie Davis for Diversions LA