I describe this collection with a quote from my book ‘Facing the Yorkshire Ripper: The Art of Survival’

“I looked into the moth cabinet, a curator had pinned each moth stabbing them through their torso into place. Each was uniformly spread out in neat rows with their wings fully splayed out. Their identity paraded for the scrutiny of the entomologists.

I gently lifted the heavy glass frame from the grip of its timeworn casing; the old air escaped filling my nostrils with the fusty fragrance of camphor and ether. I carefully pinched the metal stake that had pinned the sample in place and pulled it free.

I could feel the weight of the abdomen. As I rolled the tip of the pin, I could clearly see the unfurled wings, which were as brittle as scorched newspaper and spent some time examining the elaborate velvet patterns, the furry torso and delicately spiked antennae. I held the nocturnal creature up to the bright studio spotlights. As the stark light Illuminated every part of its anatomy, I began to draw.

Fine pencil lines laid out the structure on the paper. Blended pastel hues of surface patterns slowly emerged. In my hands the creature had become highly vulnerable, isolated outside of the tight security of its cocooned box Slowly I began to bring it back to life as a magnificent image of pattern and colour”