Substance of Venom, Experimental short film, 2023

The gardens, prairies, orchard, woodlands in the home environment where the artist, Cherie Sampson lives set the mise-en-scène for a series of self-administered honeybee “stinging rituals” over a period of several months in 2021. A team of Australian researchers recently discovered that the active substance in honeybee venom, melittin, has demonstrated a capacity to induce cell death in two types of aggressive breast cancers: triple-negative and HER2.  As a survivor of TNBC, Sampson engaged this symbolic act, calling attention to the need for more natural or other forms of cancer therapy that may one day offer alternatives to toxic and often ineffectual treatments – some that have not changed for decades. Footage of the foraging patterns of honeybees and other native pollinators of the Midwest that illustrate the diverse life in healthy ecosystems are juxtaposed with images of the stinging rites. In the video installation by the same name, the video is projected onto silk scrims that hang in a sculptural installation constructed of applewood from a Modwest organic apple orhcard.

Credits:

Camera: Cherie Sampson & Radim Schreiber

Musical elements: Charles Gran

All other audio + video production & post-production: Cherie Sampson

* Duffy, C., Sorolla, A., Wang, E. et al. Honeybee venom and melittin suppress growth factor receptor activation in HER2-enriched and triple-negative breast cancer. npj Precis. Onc. 4, 24 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41698-020-00129-0

 

SCREENINGS & EXHIBITIONS:

  • McMinnville Short Film Festival Pop up. Documentaries & Environmental. North County Recreational District Performing Arts Center, Nehalem, OR. 2025.
  • 25th Anniversary Wormfarm Artist Residency Exhibition, Woolen Mill Gallery & various local spaces in Reedsburg, WI.
  • "every.single.one", Solo art exhibition, FMAAA / Fort Madison Area Arts Association gallery, Fort Madison, Iowa. Presented as a video projection on the gallery wall. 2025.
  • McMinnville Short Film Festival (MSFF), McMinnville, OR. Festival took place at McMinnville Cinema. Award nomination: Best Environmental Film. 2024.
  • VASTLAB Experimental (VLX6) Festival, Vast lab, Inc. (California based non-profit creative collaborative) Festival with video screenings & live arts, Los Angeles. 2024.
  • Phoenix Short Film Festival, Monthly Award for December 2024. (online competition). Award: Best Experimental Shorts. 2024.
  • International Festival Signs of the Night – Lisbon, Film/video art festival. Screened in the International/Documentary category, Ateneu Popular do Montijo, Portugal. 2024.
  • 33rd Annual Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF), St. Louis, MO. Hi-Pointe Theater. 2024.
  • 24th Annual St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase, St. Louis, MO. Hi-Pointe Theater. Award: Best Experimental Film. 2024.
  • single.one: art, cancer & transformation, Solo art exhibition at Joan Hisaoka Gallery, Smith Center for Healing & the Arts, Washington, D.C. 2023. Exhibited as wall video projection. 2023.
  • ARC 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Group art exhibition with current & former members of ARC Gallery. Invited. ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL. 2023.
  • The Quality of Being Fleeting, Two-person art exhibition (with Gillian Brown). Invited. Gallery 826, Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Substance of Venom” was presented in a room-size installation with projected video onto a sculptural installation comprised of apple wood and silk. Exhibition was also part of the CURRENTS New Media Festival. 2022.
  • Voices & Visions: Standing on the Bridge Between Health & Disease, Highland Park Art Center, Highland Park, IL. Group art exhibition, curated by Caren Rudman. 2022.
  • “Sentient Performativities: thinking alongside the human,” Organized by art.earth. Dartington, Devon, UK. Interdisciplinary creative art & scholarship symposium. 2022.