Greg Corman is a Tucson-based sculptor who works primarily with reclaimed wood, steel, and found objects to create functional bee habitats, benches, tables, and vessels.
His bee habitat sculptures don't attract the common honeybee, which by the way, is a non-native species introduced from Europe and Africa. Instead, they support solitary bees, important pollinators that are non-aggressive and nest in holes in the ground or in dead trees. There are an estimated 1000-1200 species of native bees in Arizona alone, but many have been hit hard by habitat loss, competition from non-native species, pesticides, etc..
Photo: Green Cosmos Bee Habitat
So how does this work? Using reclaimed wood, metal, and paint from a variety of sources, Corman cuts, carves, and paints his sculptures. He drills a series of holes into the side edge of the wood that are just wide enough to attract leafcutter bees. Inside the drilled tunnels, the females create individual cells, each with a food source (pollen and nectar) and a single egg. When the larvae hatch, they eat the food in the cell, grow and pupate, eventually emerging as adults by chewing their way out of the cell.
Photo: Owl Bee Habitats
This photo shows one of his lizard and bee habitat bench that is currently installed at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The bee habitat is within the wooden elevated pieces. There are openings in the back of the bench for lizards and other critters to come and go, and the front of the bench was made solid to prevent sedentary humans from squealing loudly as they might otherwise find lizards crawling between their legs.
He is an industrious artist who transforms his scrounged materials into functional art and says that he is rapidly using up many of his scrounged materials.
Photo: Pile of beam ends that Corman purchased from a carpenter after contacting him on Craigslist
He notes, “I'd love to help out some of the commenters on your blog who need to purge!!!” He's good on his word. I recently off-loaded some old rebar and steel posts and now have a cleaner yard.
You can see more of his work at the Phoenix-based gallery, Practical Art and at future Tucson Open Studio events.
Photo: Oak vessel
