Visual artist Jean-Luc Maniouloux (b. 1959, France) crafts delicate compositions juxtaposing organic elements with man-made materials. Bumblebees, ants, and other small creatures face off against matches, cigarettes, and lightbulbs; nature regaining its autonomy, barreling through the obstacles imposed by the manufactured world.

Maniouloux plays with scale and literary references to raise questions about the human condition—the insects take on the role of man, grappling with a society entrenched in the absurd, and captivated by the search for clarity. In one work, the myth of Icarus takes on the form of a delicately disintegrating butterfly, moving us with its attempt to push past the limits of its own fragile state. Maniouloux’s works are tableaus in which the action is implied and anticipated, bursting with energy despite appearing frozen in time. They provoke the viewer’s imagination; one can almost hear the sound of the components colliding.