Nina Katchadourian – Uninvited Collaborations with Nature

Natural Crossdressing 

After spotting some caterpillars on a birch tree, Nina thought that a pair of them would make a perfect moustache. Using honey to help encourage the caterpillars to stop crawling up her nose and stay on her upper lip, she photographed her new look. Crossdressing, an act that is generally thought of as a highly unnatural act, transpires here using entirely natural materials

Mended Spiderweb Series

Nina searched in the forest for broken spider webs which she mended with red sewing thread. These repairing patches were made by inserting segments of the thread one at a time directly onto the web. Smaller threads were held together by the web itself whereas larger pieces were assisted with white glue.

Nina often found that in the process, she would accidentally cause more damage to the web. Then later, the spider would reject her repaired patch and replace it with its own web again, leaving the red thread to fall on the floor.

Nina also thought that she would take the opportunity to teach the spiders how to advertise: