"I began forming my idea for this piece while perusing the collections of the museum where I work. We a have a passenger pigeon specimen, which sparked thoughts of endangered species and how they are not always the large creatures that often come to mind when we think of extinction. I thought of insects as they are a highly threatened class that doesn't garner as much attention. I chose to make a set of jewelry based on the blackburn's sphinx moth. This beautiful moth was once found on six of the Hawaiian islands, but is now only found on three. I crafted a necklace and a set of ear hooks using paper, watercolor, copper, and resin. The set is displayed in a glass case as if it were a specimen in a museum. It is my hope that conservation efforts for the blackburn's sphinx will be a success, and we will continue to be able to observe and learn from live moths rather than being confined to seeing them behind museum glass like the passenger pigeon and so many other extinct species." See more of Kaitlind's work at kaitlindmarekjewelry.com