Turns out fairies are real … and rather scary. How do we know this? Fossil evidence, of course — or at least, that’s what entomological artist Tessa Farmer would have us believe. Her nearly microscopic exoskeletal sculptures manage to be whimsical and morbid at the same time (quite a balancing act, if you ask us) — depicting fantastical battles royale between fairies and insect-kind. From a gallery’s website:

Constructed from bits of organic material, such as roots, leaves, and dead insects, each of Farmer’s figures stand barely 1 cm tall, their painstakingly intricate detail visible only through a magnifying glass. Presented as wee preternatural discoveries, Farmer’s sculptures conjure a superstitious premise, dismantling the mythos of fantasia with evidence of something much more gothic, sinister, and bewitching.

Didn’t your mother teach you not to play with dead things, Miss Farmer? In any case, we’re glad; these works are creepy and cool.

Here’s a small selection from her current show, “Swarm.”

Via Neatorama.