Sacred Spots Series - Ziggy Star Bug

Acrylic, spray paint, gold leaf, gesso and spot varnish on birch wood cradled panel, 20x20x3cm (8x8x1 inches).
Sacred Spots began with a simple question: what if a ladybird’s spots were not markings, but symbols? What if each insect carried its own language, its own meaning, its own small piece of mythology?
In nature, a ladybird’s spots help us identify its species. In this series, the spots become something more. Well known symbols transform each insect into a tiny talisman, each one embodying a different idea, emotion or way of seeing the world.
Ziggy Star Bug is the first of these symbolic creatures. Its seven spots have become stars, turning the familiar ladybird into a celestial messenger. Stars have long symbolised guidance, hope, wonder and the divine spark that shines through darkness. They are distant yet constant, reminding us that even the smallest creatures exist within something vast and mysterious.
The ladybird itself carries a rich history of symbolism. Across many cultures it has been associated with luck, protection, blessings and good fortune. Farmers welcomed ladybirds as guardians of their crops, while folklore often treated them as tiny bearers of good news. By replacing the traditional spots with stars, these ideas of protection and fortune are elevated into something cosmic, a creature that carries both luck, and wonder.
The circular panel echoes a halo, framing the insect as a devotional icon. The gold background references sacred paintings and religious iconography, traditionally used to suggest a realm beyond the ordinary world. Around the edge, darkness gives way to scattered stars, creating a threshold between earth and cosmos, the known and the unknowable.
Like much of my work, Ziggy Star Bug sits between natural history and mythology. It asks us to look again at a creature so common that we often overlook it, and to imagine that even the smallest life might contain entire universes within it.
A tiny constellation with wings ✨🐞