In 2023, artist Marguerite Humeau spent several months of creative work with the team at Factum Arte to produce the eleven sculptures that formed part of her solo exhibition ‘meys’ at White Cube Bermondsey (April 5 – May 14, 2023).

Humeau’s vision pushed both human skill and material limitations, using mostly natural beeswax as well as microcrystalline wax, pigments, and ashes to find and refine the physical form of each piece. The sculptural works also gave life back to a 150-year-old walnut tree (cause of death: unknown). Eusocial insects such as ants, termites and bees, and the complex cooperative societies behind their vast built structures and symbiotic relationships with other organisms, are the inspiration behind this production.

‘meys’ was presented at White Cube as ‘a journey, incorporating sound, moving image and sculpture and enlisting the collaboration of artificial intelligence as well as hives of skilled craftspeople in order to explore ideas of interdependence and collective intelligence’.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of the Fungus Garden, 2023
Terracotta, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown), handblown glass, culture of termite mushroom (Termitomyces) and bronze
173 x 325 x 250 cm | 68 1/8 x 127 15/16 x 98 7/16 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Forager for Honey, 2023
Natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, pigments and 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown)
142 x 150 x 120 cm | 55 7/8 x 58 1/16 x 47 1/4 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of Ancient Yeast, 2023
Natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown), handblown glass and 4,500-year-old yeast
243 x 98 x 70 cm | 95 11/16 x 38 9/16 x 27 9/16 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of New Yeast, 2023
Natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown), walnut tree ashes, handblown glass and brewer’s yeast
202 x 98 x 70 cm | 79 1/2 x 38 9/16 x 27 9/16 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of Termitomyces, 2023
Microcrystalline wax, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown) and handblown glass
92 x 44 x 44 cm | 36 1/4 x 17 5/16 x 17 5/16 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of Termitomyces, 2023
150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown) and handblown glass
134 x 68 x 47 cm | 52 3/4 x 26 3/4 x 18 1/2 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of Termitomyces, 2023
Terracotta, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown), bronze and handblown glass
207 x 87 x 66 cm | 81 1/2 x 34 1/4 x 26 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Holder of Wasp Venom, 2023
Natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown), handblown glass and wasp venom
190 x 320 x 290 cm | 74 13/16 x 126 x 114 3/16 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Honey Holder, 2023
Natural beeswax, pigments, 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown), handblown glass and Bermondsey Street Bees raw honey
75.2 x 98 x 269 cm | 29 5/8 x 38 9/16 x 105 7/8 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Lying Body, 2023
Natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, pigments and 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown)
42.2 x 88 x 237 cm | 16 5/8 x 34 5/8 x 93 5/16 in.

Marguerite Humeau, The Guardian of Termitomyces, 2023
Natural beeswax, microcrystalline wax, walnut tree ashes and 150-year-old walnut (cause of death: unknown)
58 x 90 x 83 cm | 22 13/16 x 35 7/16 x 32 11/16 in.