Essential Workers
Essential Workers Lydia Needle’s bees may be small, but they are mighty. Since 2017 they have been the rock stars in her rolling collaborative art project, FIFTY BEES: The Interconnectedness of All Things. Each year, barring pandemics, Lydia creates fifty individual bee art pieces using wool and stitch, then houses them in tiny, lovingly-sourced vintage containers. Alongside this, another fifty artists, makers, writers, or musicians make a brand new companion work in response to the ecology of one of those bees. They become collaborators in this thrilling story and champions of their bee. Each FIFTY BEES exhibition creates a narrative between works and artists. It makes clear how pollinators are completely interlinked with our ecosystem, and our role in their protection. At present, Lydia is busy working on bees 201…