insect homes from couture textiles by aki inomata

insect homes from couture textiles by aki inomata
all images © aki inomata

japanese artist aki inomata works with moths to create fashionable, delicate homes for the creatures. she offers the insects fragments of recycled women’s clothing, rather than twigs and leaves, from which they can build their cocoons. entitled ‘girl, girl, girl…’, the series of unconventional fabric habitats are self-fashioned by bagworm moths — a caterpillar-like insect most easily recognized by the protective case that it constructs for itself in trees, suspended like ornaments from the plants on which they feed. inomata is fascinated by the connection between animals and their environment and finds interesting ways to fuse her artistry and their biology.

the artist trimmed textiles into miniature strips and cubes, closely mimicking substances natural to their habitat, and deposited the torn fragments into a petri dish that housed her bagworm. the insects interwove the sections into soft shells, costuming the creatures in a kaleidoscopic network of beaded, fuzzy, and patterned pieces. male bagworms leave their protective cases when they mature, but females will permanently remain in their bag, never leaving the case that she constructed as a larva.

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

inomata’s work with bagworms follows her experience manipulating hermit crab habitats, in which she intricately crafted architecturally influenced plastic shells. you can see designboom’s coverage of her hermit habitat project here.

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

 
the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

the women’s outfit (left), the matching fabric case made by the bagworm (right)

a petri dish holds scraps of fabric, which the bagworms transformed into colorful cases

inomata’s diagram explains the lifecycle of the bagworm