Bug Witch Prints is a creative project conducted by Em Phasmid, a Minneapolis-based printmaker, science illustrator, and mixed-media artist. Using animals, plants and other ecological processes as metaphors, Em creates prints, paintings and digital art that focus on human themes of identity, mental & physical healing, as well as human interactions with animals & natural resources. Em’s science illustrations primarily depict invertebrate and herptile species classification, behavior, and conservation. Em enjoys creating digital science illustrations but also has experience in creating traditional, analog science illustrations that require nothing but a microscope, a specimen, a pen, and a very keen eye. In January of 2021, Phasmid launched their online art shop, Bug Witch Prints which offers stickers, prints and commissions of their nature-based artwork and science illustrations.
After graduating from University of Minnesota in the spring of 2022 with a BS in Environmental Science with minors in Art, Wildlife Handling, and Entomology, Em dove headfirst into art-making as a full-time practice. They dedicated all of their creative energy into painting insect & botanically-themed ecosystems and illustrating the tiny, meticulous details of scientifically accurate invertebrates. Notable projects during this time include painting public art for Como Zoo, as well as taking on custom commissions for painting, relief printmaking, and science illustration work.
Looking forward, Em’s goal is to further meld together their love for art and ecology into a single practice. Through creating science illustrations, hand-made prints, and abstract, non-representational paintings, Bug Witch Prints aims to inform and highlight the conservation needs of our threatened, fragile ecosystems, down to the tiniest of intrinsic details.
