Orbweaver II

I’ve feared spiders as long as I can recall - scenes in the original Jumanji and Lost in Space each cost me sleep for weeks as a kid. When I moved to Austin to start graduate school, an orbweaver moved into the threshold of my building. I had grown more comfortable with the creatures since my youth, but it seemed time to truly ‘get over it’ and facing the (mostly) irrational fear seemed a good self-development opportunity.

I spent time through the fall observing, documenting, and learning about the creature. Apprehension slowly gave way to curiosity. I translated imagery and footage into ink tracings and illustrations to further study and capture its form and complex weaving motions. I then translated the web-weaving motion into the movements of a roomba-like robot (the Create 3) as low resolution biomimicry. This work is constituted of the resulting forms and motions.