Hubert Duprat
Inspiration for the Jewelry Hubert Duprat is a french artist that has been manipulating caddisflies to make jeweled cases since the 1980's. He grew up in the countryside and quickly gained an interest in archeology and natural sciences. He said he was inspired when he saw gold panners in the Ariège river in southwestern France and thought to provide the caddisflies he was already rearing with gold spangles. He would then remove the case and the larva would begin to make a replacement case. Duprat typically works with families Leproceridae, Sericostomatidae, Odontoceridae, and especially Limnephilid genera Potamophylax and Allogamous.
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Duprat keeps the caddisfly larvae in a cold, 40C, oxygenated water that simulates winter in order to prolong the time period they'll make cases. Once a case is completed Duprat removes the closed end of the case and pushes the larva out, since pulling can be more difficult because of posterior hooks The larva then begins to build another case. The finished pieces are very fragile and degrade over time. |
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