Ava Roth has created a new series of ceramic vessels titled "Kintsu-Bee," in which she collaborates with honeybees to repair broken ceramics. The bees build honeycomb structures that fill cracks, replace missing handles, or mend fissures, echoing the Japanese kintsugi tradition of repairing broken pottery with metallic lacquer. Roth guides the bees around forms, resulting in hybrid objects that are part human-made ceramic and part insect-built comb.
This work matters because it extends Roth's long-standing practice of co-creating with bees, moving from two-dimensional embroideries and wooden frameworks into three-dimensional ceramics. By merging the ancient philosophy of kintsugi—which honors an object's history through visible repair—with living insect labor, the series raises questions about human violence, ecological repair, and the earth's capacity for restoration. It also highlights a growing trend in contemporary art of collaborating with non-human species to address environmental and philosophical themes.