Eye Fly

Science

Insects transform dead bodies into reusable nutrients through decomposition. Flies lay their eggs on the body, maggots emerge from the eggs to eat the flesh and are joined by carrion and predaceous beetles. This insect colonization allows forensic entomologists to pinpoint time of death, whether and when the body has been moved and, because insects prefer to colonize wound sites, whether any defensive wounds are likely. Toxins and DNA from the body can also be extracted from insects feeding on the body, assisting with victim identification and whether drugs or poisons are present.

Use of Insects in Forensic Investigations

Entomology - A Primer

Method

This collage is a meditation on perception and transformation. An assemblage of images from magazines glued onto card stock presents a fantastical, Chimeric creature that consists of the thorax, abdomen, head and antennae of a butterfly, painted eyes from an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus and a human iris. The piece was created as one of a series of 31 collage postcards for the Cascadia Poetics Lab annual Postcard Poetry Festival. The original work (4” x 6”) was scanned and then digitally enhanced using Photoshop.

Bio

Diana Kolpak is a story-teller who uses photography, poetry, plays, theatre and music as her media. Published work includes the children’s book Starfall; the play Bedtime Stories and poetry and photos in several online magazines. Her most recent theatrical work, BLUE, is an interactive solo clown musical for adults that is an odyssey in the ocean of love, guided by former-mermaid-turned-lounge-singer Sally Siren. http://dianakolpak.ca