An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods Published by University of New Orleans Press

Artist Harriet Burbeck Partners with University of New Orleans Press for Spring Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — (November 20, 2020) On May 20, 2021, the University of New
Orleans Press will publish An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods by Sir Evald Fitch Townsend.
Townsend is the creation of New Orleans artist Harriet Burbeck, and this latest publication, a 128-page
artist book, is the foundational text for a world that she has been assiduously creating for years.
An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods contains speculative fiction about centipedes,
houseflies, honeybees, beetles, and silkworms. Subjects covered, include: Marie Antoinette’s garden,
Alexander the Great, and the discovery by Empress Xi Ling-Shi of the silkworm cocoon. All of this is
told and illustrated by a fictional, 19th century British author (Townsend) that is obsessed with
researching his childhood spent with adult-sized bugs.
For the past fifteen years Burbeck has delighted fans with slices of this rich, fantasy
universe—rendered in fabric, canvas, and paper—at galleries in New Orleans, Iowa, and Edinburgh
(Scottland). While the spring 2021 publication represents a kind of endpoint in a long journey, Burbeck
has plans to carry these themes into new realms. “As I continue to make fabrics, ceramics, additional
publications, prints, paintings, and illustrations that flesh out this fantasy universe I create new
installations of increasing immersiveness and intensity.”
Harriet Burbeck has a master’s degree in illustration from the University of Edinburgh, and
teaches at the University of New Orleans. Her work, which is centered around ink drawing and world-
building, is concerned with the biological experience of being alive, and the strange wonder of our
human bodies and the natural world.
The University of New Orleans Press is distributed by Hopkins Fulfillment Services.
An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods by Sir Evald Fitch Townsend
H.T. Burbeck; $40.00; 128 pages; ISBN: 9781608012183; Limited Edition Softcover
Lost Tales Publishing/University of New Orleans Press • unopress.org

Ruined and Ruinous

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Artists paint ruins as a reminder of a glorious past now gone. They draw attention to the forlorn remnants of ancient structures in which people once lived, and which are no longer habitable. These tiles, painted with underglaze on white clay, depict the derelict ruins of oil infrastructure. They look back from the future upon the ruins of the structures that are currently part of a system that is wreaking havoc on our climate.

This series was exhibited at Graphite Gallery in New Orleans.

An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods

Arthropods are the largest phylum on earth, with 100 million species. We are surrounded by them at all times. They are the mites that live on our skin, the wasps under our porches, the centipedes in the basement. These numerous, often tiny creatures are intimately familiar to us, and they are also alien, alarming creatures with strange, invertebrate body plans and glittering exoskeletons. This project explores the strangeness and familiarity of arthropods by imagining a world in which humans are the only vertebrates and giant spiders, bees, lobsters, and beetles roam the earth. At the core of this project is the book An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods,  an in-world exploration of the domestication of the beloved centipede, the noble grasshopper, and the industrially useful spider, among many others. Research during my masters degree program at The University of Edinburgh and afterward has informed a rich material culture for this imagined world, and the artifacts I have made during this process have been used to create installations at Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans, Big Blue Gallery in Iowa, and at the degree show at the University of Edinburgh. This is an ongoing project. As I continue to make fabrics, ceramics, additional publications, prints, paintings, and illustrations that flesh out this fantasy universe, I create new installations of increasing immersiveness and intensity.

Exhibit at Barrister’s Gallery

An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods will be on display at Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans in October. The opening reception is October 13. Ryan Burns will also be showing. Please come, if you can! There will be artifacts of another world, books, and drawings for you to look at.

An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods

An Illustrated History of Domestic Arthropods is a world-building project that incorporates illustration in a variety of media, artifact making, and a great deal of imaginary lore. This year I am exhibiting this work in the US for the first time. In July I will be having an installation at Big Blue Gallery in Fairfield Iowa, and in October I will be showing the illustrations alongside an immersive installation at Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans.

Graduate School

I am currently in Edinburgh, UK, working on my Masters Degree in illustration at University of Edinburgh. This doesn’t mean that I am not still doing freelance illustration, because I am! I am still working with Antigravity Magazine, and doing lots of other projects for clients in the US and the UK. But being back at school means that I am also getting to spend the bulk of my time working on an extremely rewarding and incredibly massive project that will be revealed with spectacular fanfare at my degree show in August. So be ready.

I am an Important Giant

This group show at Antenna Gallery features miniature artwork by 52 artists including me, and it is one of my favorite exhibits ever. I am so lucky to get to participate in this cool thing. It will be up through the end of April, so go look at it one of these weekends. More info here: http://press-street.org/antenna/

Children’s Illustration

Astrology illustrations in Antigravity

 

I am illustrating Antigravity’s astrology column in 2016, which is super fun. Did you know that Capricorn is a fish-goat? I didn’t until I made the drawings for January. Seriously, that is a very strange kind of animal, and now we both know about it. Learn more weird astrology things and look at pictures I have drawn in this fine publication, as a hard copy that I expect you will pick up at Siberia to read while you eat your pierogis, or online here.

Publications