Broken Butterflies

Words

Anne ten Donkelaar created the series ‘Broken Butterflies’ out of a collection of damaged butterflies. Looking at them, Anne decided to repair each one differently according to their needs. She restored body parts using gold, old maps, roots, threads and embroidery

and gave the insects new names, names that reveal something about their recovery. For example the The ‘Blauw spinner’ looked like it had died the moment it hatched from its cocoon. So Anne made the body hang from a twig wrapped with blue thread. A few threads are still hanging loose , almost as though the butterfly is slowly unwinding and breaking free from its cocoon.

All images © Anne ten Donkelaar

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