Beastly Love: Annick Aldo

NAME: Annick - AldoWorkshop
AGE: 48
OCCUPATION: Graphic Designer - Artist
LOCATION: Belgium
TOTAL NUMBER OF TAXIDERMY PIECES: 23 and growing

1. What was your very first piece of taxidermy?
A Rook (Corvus frugilegus) bough at a flea market in the 80's.

2. Where do you find pieces for your collection?
Mostly I hunt at flea markets and junk shops. Presents from friends.

3. Where do you display your taxidermy?
In the living room of my tiny apartment.

 

4. How or when did you become interested in taxidermy?
When I was a child I would collect bones, skulls, feathers, dead birds found in nature. I would bury dead birds in dry sand and leave them in the sun to become naturally dried out and mummified.

5. What do you think taxidermy is?  Art? Souvenir? Kitsch? Nature?
Depends on the motive. The taxidermist main concern is about capturing life, to be accurate in representation and not about freedom of expression, therefor I believe taxidermy would be best defined as a craft. Thinking of the many great skills involved to make a mount look life-like and to give it character makes me personally approach taxidermy as the ART of taxidermy. The world of Walter Potter is easily labeled as kitsch but is of such a curious bizarre nature and a reflection of the Victorian era that I consider his work to be Art.

6. Do any pieces have names?
Not really, I just call them: the fox, the rook, the chicken thief, …

7. Have you ever prepared a taxidermy mount?
Cabinet skins.

8. Do you worry about displaying so much death... that is, do you ever get negative reactions to your collection?
I don't see taxidermy as "death" nor either as life. It's a hyper realistic sculpture, which can unsettle the viewer's perception. The use of animal skin contributes to the notion of authenticity and allows one to be deceived into believing it was a once living animal. I am well aware that taxidermy has become a controversial subject. Perhaps people with out spoken opinions against taxidermy don't like to be confronted with the fact that animals are killed … for food, clothing, shoes, leather sofas, carpets, pest control management, by traffic, etc …  and therefor find taxidermy displays offensive.

9. Why do you think taxidermy is back in fashion?
There is popularity in the use of taxidermy in Contemporary Art that takes a critical look at the ART of taxidermy with conceptual art projects that questions the human uses and abuses of animals. As taxidermy becomes rare and less in demand due to our changing awareness of nature and wild life, control on wild life trade, wild life protection, taxidermy legislation, etc the value of antique taxidermy increases and a different kind of collector surfaces. Today we value things differently and I doubt that we can speak of a "fashion" like taxidermy was fashionable in the 19th century. 

10. If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would you be and why?
A bird of prey.

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Beastly Love: Erika Harada

NAME: Erika
AGE: 25
OCCUPATION: Graphic Designer
LOCATION: Queens, NYC
TOTAL NUMBER OF TAXIDERMY PIECES: 5
FAVOURITE PIECE: Rug mount of a fox cub (roadkill), or my antique polar bear claw

1. What was your very first piece of taxidermy?  A duckling found on Ebay – the poor thing was destroyed by my cat, Pepper, soon after we moved into this apartment. She went on to destroy a gorgeous pheasant mount, so now she is not allowed near any of my pieces!

2. Where do you find pieces for your collection?  In antique stores, and online.

3. Where do you display your taxidermy?  They're all in my living room.

4. How or when did you become interested in taxidermy?  I have always been enamored by the lovely mounts on display at the American Museum of Natural History; going there as a child made me interested in collecting as well as learning more about the natural world. I started out collecting animal skulls and bones, and have only recently began to incorporate taxidermy into my collection.

 5. What do you think taxidermy is?  Art? Souvenir? Kitsch? Nature?  I think it's art that commemorates nature; it takes a lot of skill to create a good piece.

 6. Do any pieces have names?  I named my wolf rug Ernest. He is an old Jonas Brothers mount.

 

7. Have you ever prepared a taxidermy mount?   I have tried and failed to mount a squirrel; I'm now looking for people who might be interested in teaching me.

8.  Do you worry about displaying so much death... that is, do you ever get negative reactions to your collection?  I do sometimes, but I don't really understand where they are coming from. Death is a natural part of the world, after all.

9. Why do you think taxidermy is back in fashion?  A lot of older things are back in fashion – vintage clothes, records, cameras. I think it's a part of that sort of general trend.

10. If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would you be and why?  I would be a river otter. They always seem like they're having fun.

Beastly Love: Diane Armitage

NAME:  Diane Armitage
AGE:  52
OCCUPATION:  Antique Store Owner
LOCATION:  Haunted San Juan Capistrano, CA
TOTAL NUMBER OF TAXIDERMY PIECES:  Too many to count!
FAVOURITE PIECE:  Albino Raccoon

1. What was your very first piece of taxidermy?  My taxidermy obession started out as “animal rescue” when a friend was going to throw away a black Russian boar’s head.  As he was headed to the trash bin with it, I said “Hey wait a minute!  That boar’s head would be perfect with my haunted house décor.”  So Boaris was my first.

2. Where do you find pieces for your collection?  At flea markets and online.  It’s funny because a lot of time when I find a really strange looking piece on ebay, the description wil say, “Must sell or wife will divorce me” - LOL

 

3. Where do you display your taxidermy?  In my living room and at my antiques booth.  My collection is constantly changing. Currently I have a large wall of deer heads, a strange old full-body bobcat, a Victorian black cat, a 1920s bear skin rug, a trio of smaller heads – an albino deer, a snarling raccoon and a very weird old coyote that looks like a Chupacabra.  Also, several geese, one large one in flight.  In addition, I collect old taxidermy forms and I have a really nice one of a fox with glass eyes and all.  I especially like albino or white animals and have several of those, including a snarling white possum that came from a natural history museum.

4. How or when did you become interested in taxidermy?  When I was a child, my mom and dad would take me to the doctor and the doctor was a big game hunter and the large waiting room had many Africa animal heads on the wall, including a rhinocerous, and a zebra.  He also had an aquarium and a large area behind glass with a bunch of mice.  I think my fascination began there and then really took off when I started decorating my house in a dark Victorian style.  Antique taxidermy just goes so well with coffins and skeletons.

5. What do you think taxidermy is?  Art? Souvenir? Kitsch? Nature?  Depending on how well it was put together, it can either be art or kitsch.  I actually prefer the older pieces that have shrunk up a bit so the animal’s eyes are bulging out a bit, so my collection usually tends to be a bit on the macabre side, not as much on the artistic one.

6. Do any pieces have names?  Yes, I’m afraid so.  I have Edith, the albino raccoon and Tahlullah, the bobcat.  And of course, Boaris the boar.

7. Have you ever prepared a taxidermy mount?  No, I don’t think I could handle the blood and guts part of it.

8. Do you worry about displaying so much death... that is, do you ever get negative reactions to your collection?  I don’t worry about it, but I do get negative reactions.  One friend saw my Victorian leopard head that is displayed in the viewing window of an antique child’s coffin and she said it was “horrifying.”  It didn’t bother me since that is just the reaction I like.

9. Why do you think taxidermy is back in fashion?  I think there is a lot more interest these days in the strange and the unique.  I was amazed when I opened my antiques booth last year that it would do so well, especially during a recession.  I guess people not only need to pay the rent, but they need to have the occasional taxidermy raccoon or mummified cat.

10. If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would you be and why?  I would want to come back as a pampered pug because it may be a short life, but it would be a great one!

Beastly Love: Lisa Wood

NAME: Lisa Wood
AGE: 46
OCCUPATION: artist
LOCATION: San Francisco
TOTAL NUMBER OF TAXIDERMY PIECES: 40 and counting
FAVOURITE PIECE: my lamb named Roberta

1. What was your very first piece of taxidermy?  About 20 years ago I found this little duckling at a flea market in New York and felt so sorry for him that I had to take him home.

2. Where do you find pieces for your collection? Flea markets, friends, on-line auctions, estate sales.

3. Where do you display your taxidermy? Everywhere in my tiny apartment.

4. How or when did you become interested in taxidermy? It was after the purchase of that  not-so-perfect duckling that I soon started adopting other pieces that needed homes.

5. What do you think taxidermy is?  Art? Souvenir? Kitsch? Nature? It's all those things. I tend to be in denial about how they died...I try not to  buy anything that might have been hunted or made into a trophy...I see my collection as representations of nature...only mine wear little hats and pearl necklaces.

6. Do any pieces have names? Besides Roberta the lamb...there is Thomas the rat (that cheats at cards).

7. Have you ever prepared a taxidermy mount? Nope.

8. Do you worry about displaying so much death... that is, do you ever get negative reactions to your collection? Some of my friends think it's a bit much, but they know the pieces are much loved and respected...more like a celebration of life!

9. Why do you think taxidermy is back in fashion? I think a lot of people are going back to where museums originally started...in the home.

10. If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would you be and why? Probably a humpback whale...I'd like to get as far away from humans as possible.

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Beastly Love: Thomas Hamberg

NAME: Thomas Hamberg
AGE: 27
OCCUPATION: Student of fine arts
LOCATION: Helsinki, Finland
TOTAL NUMBER OF TAXIDERMY PIECES: 30 plus insects and bones

1. What was your very first piece of taxidermy?  Very badly stuffed rat, it looks like dogpoo with fur.

2. Where do you find pieces for your collection?  From flea markets, antique stores and caragesales.

3. Where do you display your taxidermy?  All over in my tiny apartment, even kitchen.

4. How or when did you become interested in taxidermy? I have always been. When I was a child I collect things like insects and bones. That was start.

5. What do you think taxidermy is?  Art? Souvenir? Kitsch? Nature?  I think taxidermy is Memento Mori. It’s something which is dead but still alive. Of course it’s all those other things too. I think taxidermy can be all so handcraft, decorating element etc.

6. Do any pieces have names? Of course...Ralf, Mr. Fox, Martha...

7. Have you ever prepared a taxidermy mount?  Yes I have, it’s my new hobby.

8. Do you worry about displaying so much death... that is, do you ever get negative reactions to your collection?  I hear negative reactions all the time. “How you can keep all those dead animals in your home” -type of comments. I think the main reason is just death. People don’t want to see things which reminds about death. I think just death and this macabre “twist” in most taxidermy cases is the biggest turn on to me. There is something honest about these battered and old pieces. It makes me think a lot about the aesthetic part of mortality.

9. Why do you think taxidermy is back in fashion? Is it? I don’t know.

10.  If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would you be and why?  Hopefully a domestic animal...a dog maybe. Yeah, a Pug!