A diptych titled Tapetum Lucidum, magnifies the fine patterns and details of a pair of moth wings. Each exaggerated wing scale is cast from a sculpted master mold in carton pierre (a papier-mâché made to imitate stone or bronze) before being independently set with pins to create a fluid, cascading texture. The scales, in rich ochres, bronzes, and golds have been finished with wax and oil to imitate a leather-like material.

Her use of pins to secure each wing scale is a hidden reference to the display method popular in Victorian insect collecting. Historically, insect collecting became a very popular and widespread hobby in the Victorian age. The usual method of display is in a glass-covered box, with the insects mounted on specially made “insect pins.”

Coryndon’s experiment in pointillism illuminates the overlooked intricacies of the natural world, transfiguring the microscopic into the monumental.