Artist bitten by the bug

Combining mechanical components with specimens of insects or marine animals, Tan Yan'ge creates fantastic sculptures with a steampunk theme. At Tan Yan'ge's studio in Changsha, Hunan province, there is a retro-futuristic world of insects, which seems to come straight out of a sci-fi movie. Combining bug bodies with metal gears, mainly retrieved from watches, Tan has built an army of bizarre hybrid creatures, from scorpions and beetles to spiders, all with a touch of steampunk. In his imagination, a bush-cricket is a fully equipped war machine when the world is on the brink of apocalypse, and a giant lobster cricket is a knight in the desert.