Opening Reception: Worm Eats Bird

"Worm Eats Bird" is an exhibition of new pen and ink drawings by graphic artist and MFA candidate Auberi Zwickel.

In this body of work, Zwickel explores and celebrates their entanglement with the living and nonliving world, embracing death as a vital part of the life cycle. Both deeply reverent and whimsically silly, the drawings feature playful microworlds populated by hungry worms, horny butterflies, rotting corpses, extravagantly tiled altar spaces and costumed folk spirits. Through these works, Zwickel explores how times of grief, change and shifting relationships can become wombs for new growth and portals to deeper realms of understanding.

The drawings in this exhibition were created using a slow, intuitive and improvisational process of drawing directly with pen on paper, allowing the images to unfold organically. Zwickel’s distinct, highly ornamental visual vocabulary pays homage to a diverse range of inspirations, including contemporary comics, visionary art environments and textiles.

"Worm Eats Bird" will be on view at ASU’s Step Gallery from May 4th - May 13th, with an opening reception on Friday May 5th from 6-9pm

Image: Worm Eats Bird risograph poster by Auberi Zwickel