September 5, 2015

Caught in the Act of Decay

Taxidermy is just a temporary stop on the continuum from dead to dirt.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

No doubt about it, these animals are old and dead. If the gold standard in taxidermy is making mounts look as lifelike as possible, Katie Innamorato's rogue creations willfully point out the obvious: taxidermy is just a temporary stop on the continuum from dead to dirt.

As a rogue taxidermist (yes, that's a thing), Innamorato never kills animals for her art - she relies on damaged hides from other taxidermists, roadkill, casualties from the pet trade and other ethical sources. In addition to creating rogue art, she is the taxidermist in residence at the Morbid Anatomy Museum in Brooklyn, NY (yes, that's a thing, too) where she regularly hosts taxidermy workshops for the general public. Surely there is someone in your life who needs a jackalope lovingly crafted by you?

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Katie Innamorato's work and workshop schedule can be found at Afterlife Anatomy
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Every September we here at Symbiartic take the opportunity to dish up a daily dose of sciart featuring all the incredible artists we haven’t been able to get to during the year. Curious to see the inspiring artists we’ve featured in the September SciArt Blitz over the years? Check out previous years’ galleries:2014 | 2013 | 2012

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