Telling of the Bees
Solo Show at The Turchin Center for Visual Arts,
Appalachian State University
Nov 7, 2025–April 2, 2026
Curatorial statement by Mary Anne Redding
To say that Jake Eshelman has an affinity with bees is an understatement. They have become an important icon in his ongoing exploration of the relationship between humans, our environment, and everyone we share it with.
Most bee researchers agree that bees are among the most important winged pollinator on the planet. Current scientific evidence suggests that 34.7% of native bee species are at risk of extinction with more than 22% of native pollinators in North America at an elevated risk of extinction.
If we lose the bees, we undermine the efforts of a symbiotic relationship that ha evolved over millions of years. We may also lose much of the agriculture diversit that bees support – an estimated 90% of crops consumed worldwide are pollinated by bees including almonds, apricots, coffee, pumpkins, apples, avocadoes, cherries, strawberries, onions, and alfalfa.
In studying the ethical, ecological, and indeed spiritual relationships we share with bees, Eshelman’s work asks an important question of us all: “if we look closer at our relationships with these magnificent pollinators, what might we learn about our responsibilities to all other-than-human beings?”
Explore the exhibition guide
An Offering [dyptich], 2023
Archival digital pigment print
30" x 45"
Edition of 1 + 2 AP
Solid fragrance [beeswax, essential oils, absolutes, natural isolates], 50ml glass jar.
Edition of 1 + 1 AP
Archival digital pigment print
30" x 45"
Edition of 1 + 2 AP
Solid fragrance [beeswax, essential oils, absolutes, natural isolates], 50ml glass jar.
Edition of 1 + 1 AP
An Offering is a diptych featuring a photograph & solid fragrance both inspired by the common aesthetic and ecological impulses shared between people and nature’s original perfumers: orchid bees.
Orchid bees are aesthetically and conceptually fascinating because they—like us—adorn their body with scent to attract mates. In gathering individual scents from fragrant plants, fallen fruit, fermenting bits, fungi, and other organic ingredients throughout the rainforest, orchid bees use perfume as an ecological language. As such, viewers are meant to twist off the cap and smell the fragrance in the exhibition space as an imaginative exploration of what—and how—we might be able to communicate between our respective species.
Orchid bees are aesthetically and conceptually fascinating because they—like us—adorn their body with scent to attract mates. In gathering individual scents from fragrant plants, fallen fruit, fermenting bits, fungi, and other organic ingredients throughout the rainforest, orchid bees use perfume as an ecological language. As such, viewers are meant to twist off the cap and smell the fragrance in the exhibition space as an imaginative exploration of what—and how—we might be able to communicate between our respective species.
Terroir Portrait in Honey: Boone, NC
2025
Locally sourced honey, glass jars, walnut.
8" x 46"
2025
Locally sourced honey, glass jars, walnut.
8" x 46"
Honey is a distillation of one's hyperlocal ecology, as it is produced from the
flowering plants within a 5-mile radius of each hive. The specific plants visited by the
bees impart unique characteristics that give each honey its own unique terroir (or
flavor of place) including the color, flavor, consistency, and nutritional value. Indeed,
honey produced by the same hive will also change throughout the season as different
plants come into bloom. This work creates an untraditional portrait of Boone, NC, by
sourcing honey from different local beehives throughout the area.
