Trendy Tuesday - Upcycling Taxidermy

I have mixed feeling about taxidermy. I don’t agree with people heading out, shooting Bambi and then mounting her on their wall. I also don’t agree with going to the mall and buying myself a new fur coat. However if at the thrift store I were to find a vintage coat with a mink collar I’m not going to leave it behind (you can also send it to Coats for Cubs). I feel the same way about vintage taxidermy. I know it’s a bit hypocritical, but used taxidermy in the name of art – it’s almost like upcycling in a way. Is it better for that moose head to end up in a land fill or be adorned with a Carmen Miranda wig and false lashes?

I say why not revamp that taxidermy and give it a new home? Why not shop at the taxidermy store for pieces in your art even if you never use actual animal parts. Apparently lot’s of artists feel the same way that I do. Take for example my younger sister Hope Perkins.


Hope has had a strange fascination with taxidermy and mannequins since we were small children. Just look at this picture of her old apartment for proof. At what point this fascination was transformed into a full on art project I’m not sure. Several years ago she just started picking up taxidermy at flea markets for cheap and giving those bucks the full on drag queen make over: antlers were painted pink, flowers tucked behind ears and glittery false eyelashes were applied. Again I’m not sure why or when it started, but I’m kind of glad that it did. If you live in Austin stop by The Longbranch Inn to see her latest collection.


Just when I thought Hope was alone with her love of making over taxidermy I’m introduced to Houston based artist Elaine Bradford. On a random visit to a gallery in Austin I was amazed and immediately smitten on her work featuring for lack of a better term crocheted deer cozies.


Elaine has a piece called Crossbreeding a Doe with your Grandmother's Afghan that I think fits the whole collection perfectly. Her more recent work is entitled Rabbits in the Land of Squirrels and there apparently is also a stop animation feature in the works called Squirrels in the Land of Sweatered Rabbits and Lost Socks that I can hardly wait for.


Just in case you were thinking that this taxidermy faschination was a Texas thing, think again it has spread to Portland. Take Rachel Denny and her Domestic Trophy collection. Now given she does not use actual animals like Hope and Elaine, but she does incorporate the taxidermy forms into her work. Where Elaine Bradford crochets her deer, Rachel Denny knits her forms a snuggly sweater. I love that some also have a zipper option in case it get’s too toasty. Thanks to My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses for turning me on to her work.


If these are a little too real for your taste, there are plenty of amazing and more abstract options. A long time favorite of mine has always been Etsy vendor Ruby’s Lounge and her Handmade Wilderness-The Paper Deer Head Project. Jennifer Khoshbin is doing something dandy to decopauge and deer. I love the wooden cut out Moose head by approporiatly titled Big Game. Plastidermy by Science and Sons is an amazing collection of slot assembled acrylic animal tropies that often times double as light fixtures. The Trophy Lamp designed by Isabelle Rolland is another option for your taxidermy lighting needs. Check out this list on Crib Candy for even more options in the faux taxidermy department.


So what do you think about the taxidermy trend? Still think it’s cruel and creepy or do you secretly kind of love it? Remember I’m by no means condoning going out hunting a buck to whip a sweater up for, I’m saying there seems to be a lot of clever uses for all the pre-existing hunters carnage abandoned at the local flea market.