A bug's life

Artist Philippa Bentley. Photo / Babiche Martens

Huhu beetles, giant wetas and puriri moths may freak most people out, but for Philippa Bentley they provide a huge source of inspiration. She is exhibiting her original screen-printed insects - think a butterfly made of Sure to Rise packaging and a cicada with a radio tuner painted on its abdomen - at The Lane Gallery until April 11, in an exhibition called Insects and Memories.

Each insect is individually screenprinted on to weatherboard or paper, then handpainted, labelled and framed to look like it belongs in a museum boxed collection. She says the use of weatherboards is a reference to the 1950s trend of a butterfly on a weatherboard house, and that her own fascination with insects and nature began as a child when she spent time playing in the bush and creek at the bottom of her backyard. But it's not just creepy-crawlies that inspire the Devonport-based artist. "I'm also inspired by positive, passionate, real people, who in the face of the economic realities are still keeping on going with a happy spirit, a can-do attitude and a smile." Philippa Bentley Collections, The Lane Gallery, March 24-April 11.

10 favourite things

1 Auckland War Memorial Museum

A grand building and simply fascinating inside. And it's free and belongs to all of us. The natural history department has been a major source of inspiration for my work. Dinosaurs, fossils, taxidermy and strange, pink things in jars. I can spend ages looking at the drawers and boxes of beautiful butterflies, moths and amazing beetles, and here it is also about the input of the collector and the social history of our country.

2 Wunderkammer

Both the concept and the Auckland men's clothing stores, particularly the new showroom with the very cool fit-out. It translates as "wonder cabinets" or "wonder rooms". My memory box artworks are evolving naturally into tables and cabinets of curiosities. As for the concept of Wunderkammer, during the Renaissance learned and wealthy men collected works of art, natural phenomena, scientific and technical objects in cabinets of curiosities or a series of rooms. It was intended to reflect the owner's encyclopedic knowledge and was not governed by any rules of categorisation - just jumbled intuitively, wonderfully together.

3 Jackets and boots

Especially my black velvet Bye Bye Birdy jacket by Sample Only, Superette's own design label. I like Superette, they have feminine, sexy, interesting clothes that are relaxed and easy to wear. As for boots, I just like them - from my OTT snakeskin and patent boots to my black Converse Chuck Taylors that are so well worn they are now brown, to a few in between. Footwear designer Kathryn Wilson has a gorgeous new winter lace-up ankle boot too.

4 My studio

My current studio is about the size of a cupboard but I love being in there. I have artwork by friends, my sons all around me, my workbooks, a jumble of paints, good pencils, wooden boards, a window with a view and, usually, my cat Poppy.

5 My dining area

I love my dining table and the Eames chairs around it. The table was designed by architect Tim Hooson some years ago; it's now the hub of my home.

6 Insects

The Puriri moth lives in a tunnel shaped like a seven, bored in to the bark of a tree for five to seven years. It emerges as a big, colourful moth and then flies for only one precious day. The puriri tree is a symbol of the end of one journey and the start of a new one. The giant weta dates from the Mesozoic era; it watched the dinosaurs come and go and lives on in its archaic, yet apocalyptic, armour - and is now endangered. Physically these wee beasties are natural art and good design; reality and metaphor. What more could an artist ask for?

7 My Insects and Memories series

They are all about memory and identity and I think that's why people find them accessible and relate to them personally. One buyer phoned me to tell me that the artwork reminded her so much of her grandmother who had just died - the green kitchen, shelling peas together and the love in it all. She spent some of the money her grandmother left her buying the artwork, which now sits in her own kitchen. Beautiful.

8 My gold and silver lockets

Special pieces to me from the jewellery passed on through my mother's family. Both have photos of ancestors inside - a piece of whakapapa. My grandmother wore the silver locket throughout WWII to keep her husband and brother, my grandfather and great-uncle, close to her.

9 Contemporary NZ art and design

And the passionate, positive and determined creative individuals behind it all. In my own home, I treasure artworks by Gordon Walters and Stanley Palmer. There are so many artists and designers whose work I admire but two standouts would have to be Shane Cotton and his painting Freefall - that bird! And David Trubridge, his entire collection, all of it, any of it, please!

10 Colour and light

A sense of space, colour and light affects me deeply and is very important. At the moment there is a point at sunrise when the land is silhouetted black and the sky goes a clear green. Green sky is amazing. I'm based in Devonport, which has great beaches for sea, volcanoes for sky and a wonderful and creative community of people.