Insects Metamorphose from Bamboo in Noriyuki Saitoh’s Meticulous Sculptures

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a harlequin beetle with long legs and antennae on a white background

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Art
Craft
Nature

#bamboo
#insects
#Noriyuki Saitoh
#sculpture
#wood

August 29, 2024

Kate Mothes

Acrocinus longimanus (harlequin beetle), bamboo. All images © Noriyuki Saitoh, shared with permission

Noriyuki Saitoh’s (previously) fascination with insects and painstaking attention to detail transforms delicate pieces of wood into intricate sculptures. Using a range of bamboo materials, including thin paper, he carefully carves the architecture of dragonfly wings, mantis legs, and beetle antennae. While primarily made from wood, he sometimes adds other tiny materials like stone to accentuate the specimens’ eyes.

Explore an ever-growing ecosystem on Saitoh’s website, where he often documents biological facts about each animal and photographs their dramatic interactions.

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a mantis fighting a butterfly

Left: Tenodera sinensis (Chinese mantis), bleached bamboo, 90 x 92 x 67 millimeters. Right: Aporia crataegi (Black-veined white), bamboo and bamboo paper, 30 x 40 millimeters

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a mantis holding up a cicada in its arms

Tenodera aridifolia (Japanese giant mantis) holding Auritibicen bihamatus (cicada), bamboo

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a long-horned beetle with very long antennae

Anoplophora malasiaca (citrus long-horned beetle), bamboo, 40 x 48 millimeters (antennae length: 80 millimeters)

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a dragonfly perched on someone's finger

Sinictinogomphus clavatus (golden flangetail), bamboo, 100 x 125 x 60 millimeters

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a mantis, shown upright on its hind legs in front of a white background

Ceratocrania macra (Malaysian ghost mantis), bamboo

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a horned beetle

Cyclommatus elaphus (deer stag beetle), bamboo, bamboo paper, and blue tiger eye, 100 x 95 x 40 millimeters

a meticulously detailed wooden sculpture of a horned beetle, photographed in someone's hand

Cyclommatus elaphus

#bamboo
#insects
#Noriyuki Saitoh
#sculpture
#wood

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