Pasadena’s Gold Bug grows

Stacey Coleman calls his Pasadena gallery Gold Bug “a contemporary cabinet of curiosities,” but after his recent expansion, the moniker seems an understatement in many ways. After taking over an adjacent storefront, Coleman, wife Shelley Kimball and daughter Theodora Coleman have filled new tables and covered additional walls with dozens of artists’ work that is beautifully crafted and often delightfully odd. Lisa Wood’s miniature dioramas are populated with soldier ants building a sandcastle and cicadas sitting down for tea with gold-rimmed china -- scenes that seem at once a parody of natural history displays and a celebration of them too. (And, yes, those are real insects.) Other offerings range from large sculpture costing thousands of dollars to acid-washed concrete figurines that start at less than $10. 22 E. Union St.; (626) 744-9963; www.goldbugpasadena.com.

-- Craig Nakano