Frank Halmans has been collecting insects since childhood.
Halmans is a collector in the literal sense of the word.
He does not hunt for unusual or rare specimens, he finds the insects, dead in a window sill, on paths and roads during his walks and travels.
He puts the found insects in a box and at home they are prepared and given a place in one of the drawers of his filling cabinet
The collection now consists of more than 2200 prepared bugs, each with a number that refers to a card on which rhe species name, site and date are noted.
His collection is special for several reasons.
Insects that he finds in the immediate vicinity are usually of the kind of which you already have several specimens. That is no reason for Halmans not to give the insect a place in his collection. As a result, he often has several drawers full of one type .
What makes his collection absolutely unique are the notes he makes for every insect.
139 - Ancistrocerus Parietinus - In a wagon of the ZLSM, Station Simpelveld, summer 1993
This makes every insect in the collection a small part of his memory, like a note in a diary.
In general it can be said that, by playing a game with objects, Halmans transforms the things in his world into personal memory images.
Memories are therefore essential for the artist.
"Forgetting is alarming," he says, "everything has been in vain, meaningless, if you are content with forgetting."
Most of the "Lost and Found" drawings were created between 2006 and 2010 .
The largest part of the sheet consists of a carefully drawn (and with watercolor raised) content of a drawer and the corresponding notes.
Bottom right you find the chest of drawers and the drawer number (also the number of the drawing).
A wide selection of the "Lost and Found" drawings was shown in a solo exhibition at Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort (2009). For this exhibition the monograph 'Lost & Found' was published with a text by Robbert Roos.
Works from this series are included in the Contemporary Drawings Collection of the Province of Utrecht and in private collections.