Explore the extraordinary world of sculptor Joan Danziger of Washington, DC, whose creations—creepy, crawly specimens with six legs and wings—take center stage.

Enter the world of Coleoptera, the largest and most diverse order of insects commonly known as beetles. Danziger’s colorful works, which will cling to the walls throughout the gallery, will be paired with some of RPM’s scientific collection of beetles, as well as some cultural artifacts from ancient Egypt and South America, decorated with the insects. The artist enlists metal wire, iridescent glass, celluclay, and paint to create her much-larger-than-life-sized sculpted beetles. Some of her sculptures measure nearly five feet! The artist notes that her work uses “animal imagery as metaphorical or psychological subjects giving the sculptures a life of their own creating a magical world. Beetles, especially the scarab, have inspired creative myths in many cultures because of their ability to survive, and have been objects of fascination and awe.”

The artist earned a BFA in painting from Cornell University and continued her studies at the Art Students League in New York and the American Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Danziger has exhibited throughout the U.S. including Washington, DC’s American University and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the New Jersey State Museum, the Jacksonville (FL) Museum of Art and Sciences, the California Museum of Science and Industry, and the New York State University Art Gallery, among others.