Bryce Lovelace is a meteorology student at Florida State University from Tampa, FL. His interest in native ecology began while working at Little Red Wagon Native Nursery, where he developed a passion for Florida’s plant and insect life. And a passion for Florida’s ecosystems, which are undergoing rapid transformation, and many species are struggling to survive. We may be living in a pivotal moment—one of the last chances to witness the natural beauty of this region.
Since 1996, monarch butterfly numbers have dropped by 90%, and the American bumblebee has seen a similar decline. As the Holocene extinction unfolds, biodiversity is diminishing. But there is time to learn and help slow this decline.
Lovelace now cultivates butterfly gardens and shares his knowledge of botany, climatology, and entomology with local communities. This exhibition focuses on the native flora and fauna found around FSU’s campus. We sat down with Bryce to talk about his work and process. His hope is to inspire you to nurture your garden and offer a lifeline to these vital organisms—your care could help preserve a species for future generations.
- Tell us about this show – give our readers a brief introduction to the work you are exhibiting with us this semester.
The work you see today might be gone tomorrow. Nowadays, most people have a great quality camera in their pocket. I have the propensity to take pictures of what (in the moment) seems important. It is my belief that art is the language of entire stories; wildlife photography is an inspiring, yet pessimistic story. My photography tells a story hundreds of thousands of years in the making. I am very history-oriented, because I want future generations to know about the beautiful ecology that was once here.
- What is your favorite work in this show? Tell us a little more about the story behind it.
In terms of color, the blooming Redbud tree is my favorite. The natural blues of the clear sky behind the saturated pink of the tree’s flowers make them pop so much more. If you look closely, you can see some large, native bees such as Bombus and Xylocopa performing buzz pollination. In terms of my favorite work, I would say it is “Once in a million”. Next to my garden plot at the FSU Seminole organic garden, there was this beautiful Mexican Sunflower in full bloom. I was capturing an endangered American Bumblebee, and I somehow also managed to catch a Fiery Skipper mid-flight as it was landing on the same flower.
- What does your artwork represent about you? What message do you want to send out into the world through your art?
My artwork encompasses every aspect of me. It is extremely personal, because it shows you me (Bryce) in my element. The photos are taken by the hands of someone who is shaking; by the eyes of someone traumatized. That’s why my art is so beautiful, because despite everything, I still manage to see the beauty in nature. I want people to take away the idea that awareness is the key to recovery.
- What inspires you?
Everything. The names and faces of everyone that I’ve met. Wants and needs, commodities and necessities. My accomplishments and my failures. Every lesson that I’ve learned, every teacher that I’ve learned from. Every word on my paper. Every pixel on my screen. I see inspiration in everything. Despite all of the invasive life introduced to Florida, even something as small as a Bumblebee landing on a flower gives me immense inspiration.
- How does artmaking fit into your day to day life?
The creative process is extremely mood dependent for me because of how personal it is. Internally, I beat myself up for manufacturing situations where I can produce good art—like I am trying to capitalize my passion for photography. Artmaking is an overwhelming sensation of inspiration where I need to stop what I am doing and create. I tell people about being at “the right place at the right time”, but you don’t get many of those opportunities if you aren’t in a healthy enough mindset to get inspired.
- How does being a student impact your creative process?
Being a student very much feels like you have a countdown timer until you go homeless. The timer is reset typically at the start of each semester, but I still realize that my expenses are only being propped up by high-interest private loans. When you start to push your hobbies for profit, your work begins to lose its authenticity. Being a student doesn’t impact my creative process, but being poor does.
- What inspired or influenced you to become an artist?
The fear of being forgotten. I somehow, perhaps inadvertently, personified the bumblebees I find in my garden. I know the feeling very well, that soon I will leave and people will forget me. Making a beautiful garden is only the first part of my creative process. Showing people the ecological difference my garden is making is the second part. The final third part is seeing people glowing with that same inspiration as they garden and publish the pictures of insects that they took.
- Is research part of your art making process? If so, could you give us an idea of what that process is like? Where do you do research before you start making? Are there any specific kinds of information that are critical to your work?
If there is a plant, bird, fish, animal, or insect that I am not familiar with—I use a smartphone app called “iNaturalist”, which recognizes and identifies what I took a picture of. I send in my pictures to iNaturalist, log my identification and location, and wait for my findings to be confirmed by locals. When I find a new species, I try to return to the same initial conditions so I re-encounter said species again in the future when I am more prepared.
- Do you have any long-term goals related to making your artwork?
Though I can raise awareness of the current Holocene extinction event, I solely cannot stop it. While this may seem superficial, I grew up playing The Sims series of games by Will Wright, and I was always a fan of displaying custom art on the walls of my houses. My friends and family also deserve to have professional artwork for their walls, so they have a beautiful reminder of my perspective when I’m gone.
- Where can our readers learn more about you and your work? Please share any social media or personal contact information you’d like to have published on our blog.
I don’t typically post my artwork online due to the current reality of being an actual artist in the era of Artificial Intelligence. If you want to find me, you can add me on Instagram or Facebook @bk_lovelace.
FSU Libraries’ Art in the Library Committee organizes visual and performing arts programming in its spaces to enrich the library as an aesthetic and academic environment. A major part of this program includes exhibiting artwork drawn from the FSU student body on a semester-long basis. Each semester, the committee interviews these student artists and shares their statements surrounding the work they’ve created; the views expressed in this interview are those of the artist. They share insights into their creative process, inspirations, and the themes they explore in their work, providing a deeper understanding of their artistic vision and the impact they aspire to have.
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