#taxidermy art

Here are several framed taxidermy art pieces that I have made within the past year. Some of these pieces and other similar framed artworks are for sale on my shop !! Thanks for looking :)

moonandserpent:

Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, 2017.

I’m going to end up uploading better edits at some point, because im definitely not a fan of these edits I did on my iPad. But,it’s available to purchase anyways! Real deer skull, amethyst, quartz, moss, fake succulents and fake floral pieces. 

Coyote tooth & Mushroom earring set! Super cute set. Available here on Etsy. 

Buffalo tooth & Mushroom earring set, now available on Etsy. 

‘Host' 

'thymus vulgaris’

'fragaria ananassa’

'rosmarinus officinalis’

 In my youth I find it hard to understand the concept of death that the deceased aren’t just hiding around the corner. This may seem strange as my practice directly involves the dead but I appear to have lost myself in a fairytale world. I feel that the truly terrifying part of dying is aging, loss of everything you once had and the inability to stop it. Whilst I cannot fathom that I will never see my grandfather again, my breath catches in my throat and my hands shake at the thought of my mother leaving my life. I put this down to me being much more involved in her aging process, I can see it and it feels so real. I believe that this is where the idea for the ‘Host’ series branches from. These three sculpture/instillation pieces combine everything that I think and feel about death, as hard as it is to grasp.

Each piece contains the preserved corpse of a rat playing the role of my Grandfather. It is impersonal and hard to comprehend; suddenly the rat is simply a piece of meat, a soft toy. You’ll never see life in the beads that pretend to be eyes. Each piece also contains herb or fruit bearing plants that play the role of my mother. The first time that you see her she’s young, glowing and immortal. Her branches strong, her leaves luscious, nothing can defeat her. Slowly but surely time scoops her up in his endlessly moving hands and you see change. The branches, once strong begin to weaken; the leaves that were so luscious begin to wilt. You realise that you can never rely on something so frail. You are lost in the depression of death and decay; you cannot see the bigger picture, but you’re the fruit and there is hope. Despite the horror and torture of aging and loss, we must appreciate the beauty and magic that surrounds all life. Yes, you’re mortal but cherish the hope of humankind.

In ‘The World of Perception’, Maurice Merleau-Ponty states; ‘one of the great achievements of modern art and philosophy has been to allow us to rediscover the world in which we live, yet which we are always prone to forget.’ I think that this is a beautiful statement, I often find myself lost in a dream world, with dulled senses, wondering where all the time has gone. I feel that this theory is a large contributor of what got me into taxidermy, searching for a wakeup call. Taxidermy art cannot be ignored, it is in your face and abrupt, it hides nothing about the world we live in.

From my artwork I want viewers to feel their mortality, but also the hope of a larger picture. To gain comfort in the fact that life will continue after them and that every decision and move they make is a small (but nonetheless important) part of human history. I want viewers to find peace and a lessened fear of death. I want them to have an experience.  

Leonardo da Vinci said ‘While I thought I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die.’ Death is an inevitable part of the world in which we live and through learning about death, we remember life. 

I Can’t Be Stopped

I’ve only gone and done another one. This is the fourth out of the little sleepy circle rats, meaning only 8 more to go! Once I have 12 I can mount them on my canvas’s ready for the exhibition, what fun.

I used the ‘Apple green’ dye at an attempt to create a green rat. I had not used this dye before so I was unsure what to expect but the dye colour in gunge form was very emerald green so I expected it to
Be quite dark. The colour that has come out is very similar to the lagoon blue, just a little bit more greeny. The colour has come out beautifully on the tail though and I’m sure I could create a more intense colour with a few more coats!

Production Line

A few weeks ago had two skinned rats ready to become immortal and I felt dangerous, so I thought hey, let’s do them all today! Usually it takes about three hours to stuff a rat after the skinning stage and I managed to get this down to two, having done two in four hours!

I decided to dye one of the rats ‘sunset’ colours (yellow and pink) to go with the midnight rat and the other one I decided to try out my new orange dye. Here you can see them looking very deflated and spooning.

The sunset rat was a great success, the colours came out perfectly and I didn’t need to redo them at all! The stuffing was very quick and easy, I think I’m really getting the hang of it.

And look how perfect it looks with the midnight rat! I stuffed it on the same side so that when I mound them on the canvas they can face each other like this with their tails curling in different directions. Perfect.

Im also happy with how the yellow rat turned out! I would say more of a duckling colour, but still very cute and I think the tail is quite obviously orange, it could maybe be left of for longer or mixed with a bit of red for a more orangey tone? There is also a strange story behind this rat. I skinned it on Halloween and I am sure it is possessed! When I was skinning it I realised its ears and little rat balls were very hard (they are usually soft) and when I skinned it’s eyelid it had a very creepy, hard, white eye (usually red and jelly like). It could of had something to do with being refrozen too much but I’m definitely going to go with possessed.

But overall a very productive day, I hope there are many more to come!

Reincarnation and Respect

I read this book ‘The Incarnations’ recently and I absolutely loved it. It’s all about reincarnation and old souls, something I’m very interested in. I don’t know a huge amount about reincarnation, I briefly looked at it when I was taught religion when I was younger, but the mention of it grabs my attention. I am not a religious person but once had an ‘epiphany’ like dream that was all to do with reincarnation, so I am always fascinated to hear about it.

I kinda like to think that I am reincarnating my rats into new beings. I am turning them into beautiful, immortal rat gods, ridding them of their rotting body and giving them a new sterile one, which will last forever.

I have been thinking about ways to make the stuffing of my rats more ritualistic and meaningful, perhaps even like an Egyptian mummy, the rats could contain artefacts to take them to the netherworld. My first thought was herbs and spices, I could fill the new, clean body with beautiful smells that also come with meaning. I could also use more natural materials for the stuffing such as fine straw. All these things I will need to research up on in order to carry out a more powerful practice.

artthatremindsmeofhannibalnbc:

Kimberly Witham, from “On Ripeness and Rot” series
Photograph

artthatremindsmeofhannibalnbc:

Amy Noelle Glunt, Cyclical, circa 2015