Lucanus Cervus
The Stag Beetle
When it comes to liking animals, we are very picky, and bugs are rarely favoured. Sadly. Even if given really cute names — ladybug, jewel beetle, firefly — their fandom is a niche. I like stag beetles very much. They have fascinated me since childhood. I look at them: a clash of a shiny bug and a miniature deer. A brown-black wrestler with antlers and wings — what a creature! It holds a special place in my bestiary of real, living things.
What I like — I portray. Drawing is one of the ways I can experience a subject in all its smallest details. I dive deep into lines and patterns, and pay back with the experience materialised on paper. For the stag beetle, I chose the big format — A3 — so it can get more focus than at normal size, with an additional boost of shine and whimsy. Built up from little dots, the stag caught a lot of my attention: the shiny wing cases have an uneven surface, the thorax (middle section) bends like a medieval breastplate, and the oversized mandibles (antlers) are long and darken at the ends.
Stag beetles are quite harmless and a joy to watch.
Stag Beetle, ink on paper © Mira Maria Belniak
Getting closer
I like it a lot, so let’s make it a lot — I multiplied my beetle into many. In the repeat, the beetles became a running crowd. Intense experience — to look at them like that. And they became a pattern. This form opened a special door: let the beetles enter houses. Even more: become an experiment.
Psychological research suggests that disgust toward insects is largely driven by unfamiliarity, and that exposure — especially in a positive, familiar context — can genuinely reduce aversion. Worth testing. The bed is the most intimate familiar context there is, so I printed my beetles on bedsheets and pillows. I chose the size that was neither too big nor too small, so all their details are clearly visible and inviting to touch. Cat-sized beetles.
In my experiment, I ask: who will dare to sleep under my beetles? What emotions do they evoke, versus what emotions will they bring? And why?
