BILLINGS — When most people hear the word parasite, they think of something grotesque or dangerous, but one Billings woman sees something different: beauty, complexity, and misunderstood creatures that play vital roles in the natural world.
See the video for this story below:
Lindsey Munson, a naturalist and artist based in Billings, likes to see the beauty in the ugly.
“(Parasites are) not as emotional as us, but they have little emotions. Even down to a spider. You can see it in the muscle movements of their face," said Munson.
Munson's current obsession is with parasites. Currently, she is working on a six-month-long art project that explores parasitic life in all its forms. Through detailed hand-drawn illustrations made with acrylic paint of over 100 parasites, she hopes to spark curiosity and shift public perception of what these organisms represent.
"Parasites inhabit one-third or more of our planet. It's a lifestyle. It's not just bugs and things like that,” said Munson. "They will continuously keep their host alive over a time period, taking the nutrients and resources out of them."
Parasites include organisms that live off of or in a host to feed and can include creatures such as leeches and hookworms, or even pets and humans.
“Human beings, we're parasites," said Munson. "Making hosts take care of us is another form of parasitism. You can see that in crabs taking care of barnacles as its own young, but it's not. It's parasitic barnacles, and so, we also do that as humans."
Her project was recently on display during a live viewing and discussion at This House of Books on Saturday, part of Earth Week programming with SustainaBillings. With 30 pieces already completed, Munson is diving deeper into the world of parasites. She wants to collect real-life parasites to draw, even if not all of the organisms can be found in Montana.
“It's gotten to the point where I want to put purpose to it, and I would rather see a purpose for the public. It's fun because then I get to collect like tapeworms and stuff in jars, and I have a lamprey, and I was hoping that maybe, like, find some hyena hair,” joked Munson. “There's a mantis parasite. The horse worm goes in the mantis. It's crazy, and it comes out when you put it in water, and it fills a jar. I would like to get one suspended in a jar at some point."
Munson traces her comfort with the “gross” side of nature back to her childhood in Maine, where she would wade through deep mud just to collect leeches for fun. That early exposure grew into a passion for biology, ecology, and a desire to help people see the natural world as it really is through art.
“I was allowed to just go by myself from eight in the morning until eight at night in the woods by myself from the age of five and just go to town," said Munson. "With my art, I've been doing this kind of style now for about a decade since I moved to Billings, and it's just kind of taken a mind of its own."
The aim of her project is more than art—it's about awareness.
“I noticed a lot of people have a confusion about parasites. They think that it's just bugs or it's just internal and external parasites, and it's not," said Munson. "Then I think that's it, and if you think that bugs are just parasites, you're probably being parasitized on already."
Even when it comes to the creatures that might give us the heebie-jeebies, Munson believes that since they are all creatures in our ecosystem, we might as well get to know them.
“Just to know that they're not empty beings and that there is a little bit of reason to the chaos out there and not to be scared of things like parasites and spiders and to be more exposed to that visual representation of things. Because if you can understand it, then you have a better ability to control it," said Munson.
For more information on Munson's project, click here.
