still life after death

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while we're in this vein of taxidermy, here is some works of UK artist Polly Morgan. while some of them creep me out eg. 'carrion call' with scores of tiny quail chicks bursting out of cracks in a decaying coffin, others have a tranquil, melancholy air to them. kate moss is reportedly a fan of her work. Polly's mother and many friends live on farms and supply her with animals that have died or not made it past infancy for whatever reason. in an interview with an australasian art magazine Polly also sounded very respectful of the animals and also only uses those that have died natural deaths. i think part of understanding the strange beauty of taxidermy is realising how separate the soul and the body are. the body is really just an empty anonymous shell without the soul. i can't help thinking of a very beautiful, perfect rainbow rosella i found the other week, unexplainably dead in a parking lot. it's neck was broken, and though i buried it in my garden i can't help thinking how unusually beautiful it might have looked under one of those bell jars and miniature chandeliers.......

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www.pollymorgan.co.uk

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disce mori

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a lesson in dying? it may sound macabre but the notion of 'remembering your death' or 'learning to die' are ancient ideas to remind us of our own mortality. in victorian times mourning jewellery made particularly from beautiful jet were commonly worn to commemorate a death of a loved one, often encasing a lock of their hair. ideas of remembering the brevity of human life can be clearly seen in many art works in the form of vanitas, motifs of timepieces and human skulls particularly in Flemish paintings. while the idea may seem creepy, there is a certain logic and esotericism behind embracing the certainty of death in order to live your life to it's fullest.
in light of the huge popularity surrounding pamela love jewellery, i've decided to post about a very talented melbourne jeweller/taxidermist, Julia de Ville who shares a similar aesthetic. her pieces trace a wonderfully fine line between gothic, delicate and edgy. Julia believes that by using even the lowliest of animals juxtaposed with precious and semi-precious stones demonstrates that any life is a worthy treasure. She is a vegetarian and only uses animals that have already died from natural and unavoidable causes. though many people will find dead animals and cast skeletons confronting and disgusting, julia believes there is much to be appreciated in their beauty even after death, and preserving them is a way of respecting and honouring life.

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www.juliadeville.com

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it's now or never

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ffffound

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the happy prince by oscar wilde

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http://fiction.eserver.org/short/happy_prince.html

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beautiful birds of paradise

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some model candids/backstage pictures from thefashionspot contributed by nevena. i highly recommend checking out www.thefashionspot.com for all your wildest fashion-ish dreams. many wonderful hours can be spent trawling through forums (like a good fleamarket) looking at impossibly beautiful clothes, models and photographs.....

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tfs

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shoe gazing

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jak and jil

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before they turn the summer into dust

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ffffound

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