New to the collection - Miles Allen

Another exciting artwork that has recently been added to the Sunshine Coast Art Collection, is mixed media work: ‘What Einstein said about bees’ by local artist and Sunshine Coast Art Prize finalist, Miles Allen. This is an assemblage artwork which uses fruit and vegetables boxes from Europe and tinted with ink. The bees are cut from plywood of different thicknesses.

Talking about what inspired the artwork, Miles says: “both Einstein and Darwin studied bees and recognised the vital role they play in fertilising plants. Einstein is attributed with saying ‘if the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years left to live’. There are many diseases which affect bees and for a variety of reasons these diseases spread quickly within hives and amongst other colonies. Widely used insecticides also decimate bee populations.”

Miles is known for repurposing used found objects into a new visual dialogue and for his thought-provoking art installations that often are environmentally topical, highlighting human impact on the environment. He uses discarded objects, (often machine-made materials) to create artworks that emphasise important messages impacting our daily lives, about our impact on the sensitivities of our eco-system and more recently, a series of COVID-related responses.

Be sure to check out What Einstein says about bees currently on display at the Caloundra Library until 28 January 2023.

See more about the Sunshine Coast Art Collection