Ava Roth's Kintsu-Bee: Honeybees Repair Ceramics with Honeycomb in Kintsugi-Inspired Series
Ava Roth, a Canadian artist, has unveiled her latest series named Kintsu-Bee, which features intentionally broken ceramics placed within active beehives. Collaborating with Master Beekeeper Mylee Nordin, Ontario honeybees fill the fractures with honeycomb, replacing the conventional gold of kintsugi with natural wax formations. Based in Toronto, Roth has engaged with bees for over ten years, previously incorporating embroidered and woven elements. The Kintsu-Bee series is inspired by the 15th-century Japanese art of kintsugi, which honors imperfections by mending pottery with gold lacquer, reflecting the wabi-sabi philosophy. By allowing the bees to dictate their repairs, Roth's work highlights ecological themes, transforming the human-pollinator dynamic amid declining bee populations.
Key facts
- Ava Roth's Kintsu-Bee series involves placing broken ceramics in active beehives for honeybees to repair with honeycomb.
- Roth has collaborated with Master Beekeeper Mylee Nordin and thousands of Ontario honeybees for over a decade.
- The series is inspired by kintsugi, a 15th-century Japanese repair method using gold lacquer.
- Roth previously worked with embroidered and woven panels placed in hives.
- The bees decide the extent and location of repairs, with no human control over the outcome.
- Honeycomb remains organic and does not imitate ceramic, glowing against glazed surfaces.
- The work addresses ecological themes, highlighting bee population decline and human-pollinator interdependence.
- Kintsugi has become a cultural symbol of resilience, which Roth makes literal through living creatures.
Entities
Artists
- Ava Roth
- Mylee Nordin
- Makiko Hicher
- Satoshi Yoshikawa
Institutions
- My Modern Met
- Colossal
Locations
- Toronto
- Canada
- Ontario
- Japan