Beehive States is a sound-based project using sculptural woodcut prints of honey bee hive's and field recordings to explore sound association's to wingbeats. A honey bee flaps its wings at a rate of 230 times per second creating a buzz-like sound. The multisensory installation examines how instinctive reactions to sound can shift through attentive listening. Each woodblock print represents a different cognitive or emotional state, reflecting the ways sound influences our perception and behavior for those who can hear. Accompanying field recordings and beekeeping materials invite viewers to engage more fully, encouraging stillness, reflection, and curiosity over the instinct of fight or flight.

Multiple two-color woodcut prints, sculpted wood, beehive supplies, audio of field recordings in Tulsa Oklahoma, Kihei Hawaii, and Orient New York
Installed at Philbrook Museum of Art, 108 Contemporary: Natural Rhythms, and Oklahoma Contemporary: Art Now 2025
This project was supported by Artist Creative Fund, CACHE, and GKFF

IMG_6953
572E7334-DAFF-46EA-9343-C9FAD714E31C_4_5005_c
NR_-89
NR_-58
NR_-20
FXT50111
BEEHIVESTATES_240323_SOOC_23
IMG_6637
BEEHIVESTATES_240323_SOOC_34
BEEHIVESTATES_240323_SOOC_22
1958AB6D-1035-4A92-9121-F5832D0E292F_1_105_c
IMG_6675
two color block print (black and yellow ink on white paper) of honeybees working a top of a black wood grain surface

COMING SOON! Shop the entire collection

 

Copyright (c) Nic Annette Miller 2017

 

FOLLOW ALONG:

svg-image
svg-image
svg-image
instagram-30-black