I am smaller than a gumnut
The boots have stopped and now you look
We are both frozen in time and space
I see you too.
I see you too
Charcoal, pastel and UV invisible paint on Ilford smooth cotton rag 310 gsm, printed with Ultra Chrome Inkon, UV lamp.
841 x 1189 cm, 2023
Bull ants have incredible vision for their size.
The warped hexagonal grid you can see across this drawing simulates vision through a bull ant’s compound eyes, which number approximately 3200 lenses each. Their vision omits red but they can see greens, blues, yellows and ultraviolet. The image below shows daytime vision. Bull ants are short-sighted, but can still see an impressive 1.5 metres away. This is simulated in the drawing by rendering the lower foreground crisp and the distant tree-scape blurry. Perspective is altered to experience seeing my legs from ground level.
Bull ants have impressive night vision.
To interpret this, the same drawing as above is shown below in dimmed light with black light detecting invisible UV paint within the drawing.
Watch night fall. The crickets have begun their chorus …