Behind the Art of Mike Libby
Mike Libby was inspired when he found a dead beetle under a vending machine and merged it with a Mickey Mouse wristwatch, one day (Caputo, 2009). As he thought about the biology of insects and how their bodies worked, it reminded him of the way that a wristwatch worked, synchronized and orderly. So, Libby decided to combine the watch and beetle. Since then he has created many of these small structures, using materials such as watch pieces, typewriter pieces, or sewing-machine parts to resemble the insect's body (Insect Lab, 2014).
Libby prides himself on retrieving, “ safe non-endangered high quality specimens from Licensed Dealers who supply from all around the world Africa, China, New Guinea, Brazil, Texas, etc,” as well as the various insects he finds right outside his backdoor such as bumblebees (Insect Lab, 2014). He has worked with many insects but his favorite types of insects to work with are beetles. He still would love to get his hands on a rhino beetle, more exotic grasshoppers, and a really large dragonfly (Holbrook, 2011).
These pieces of art usually take around 20-40 hours to complete and usually he makes them for individual orders. Libby says that he dissects his insects with "a steady hand, good tweezers, and small pins". He usually will place the insect in a small air tight container with a moist cloth and let it sit for 24 hours which will help the joints loosen and make it more flexible and easy to work with. It also becomes easier to pose. Libby does not polish any of his insect displays but relies on their own natural polish and shine (Holbrook, 2011).
Libby stated that the hardest specimen to use are usually ladybugs, dragonflies, or Orb Weaver spiders. He says that their small body frames and thin legs can make it easy to break (Holbrook, 2011).
These pieces of art usually take around 20-40 hours to complete and usually he makes them for individual orders. Libby says that he dissects his insects with "a steady hand, good tweezers, and small pins". He usually will place the insect in a small air tight container with a moist cloth and let it sit for 24 hours which will help the joints loosen and make it more flexible and easy to work with. It also becomes easier to pose. Libby does not polish any of his insect displays but relies on their own natural polish and shine (Holbrook, 2011).
Libby stated that the hardest specimen to use are usually ladybugs, dragonflies, or Orb Weaver spiders. He says that their small body frames and thin legs can make it easy to break (Holbrook, 2011).