Rogue

A few weeks ago I attended the Rogue Taxidermy show at La Luz De Jesus Gallery, here in LA. I must admit, it was one of those shows with extreme highs and extreme lows. Perhaps it's just that anything that's in the presence of a masterpiece by someone like Jessica Joslin will be dwarfed by it's awesomeness, but I just gotta say: sticking snake bones onto something or adding fur to something does NOT make it a good use of "taxidermy" in art. That being said the show was put on by a group of artists that use completely found objects of taxidermy, nothing used was killed for that purpose, the only kind of taxidermy art that one can really truly enjoy. Here's some images of my favorites, and the "highs" from the show!

Jessica Joslin

Jessica Joslin

Enrique Gomez De Molina- would've liked to see it without the tail I think

Enrique Gomez De Molina- Love his fancy "headdress"

Enrique Gomez De Molina

Bibus- Unfortunately the glare of my camera dilutes the INSANE look, and detail of this piece

This squirrel has some serious passion in his eyes!

Bibus

Bibus

Bibus- this piece grossed me out a bit more then the squirrel, could be cause he looks like roadkill or could be cause I dont have a pet squirrel!

Sarina Brewer

Liz Mcgrath

Sarina Brewer- How cute are these/this!

Jeanie M- Something you never want to come home to, unless a. they're caged, or b. they're cute and dead, like this!

Brooke Weston- Thought these were really interesting. She built little dollhouse-like houses into the busts of the animals. A unique sentiment.

Continued...

So as you may remember I wrote about a week ago that I had some fun photos to share from my recent trip to my family in New Mexico. Well most importantly I want to post some of the shots I have from a private taxidermy collection/museum that is just MASSIVE. When I was younger I hated the place cause all of the animals were hunted, and normally I'm a fan of natural death taxidermy but the opportunity to view some of these majestic creatures up close is just too good to pass up.

This cheetah is one of the first animals your eyes are drawn to upon entering the Savannah exhibit portion of the collection.

These lions make a beautiful pair.

The work that this taxidermist has done is so unique and beautiful. The way that he has the gazelle's (I believe that's what they are) running, is just superb, along with some other wonderfully unique poses of several other animals.

I thought this guy was adorable.

Majestic leopard, waiting to devour his kill in the tree, away from the hyenas!

Clash of the titans :p Mostly I just like the huge hare that's just hanging out in front of them.

Just a small portion of his collection of outrageous hides.

This is only about 1/5 or less of a wall COVERED in a variety of mounts. Most of them were from Africa though.

Secretary bird is ready for business. Is it just me or does he have a bit of Karl Lagerfeld in him, or vice versa? Maybe I'm just thinking that because I watched Lagerfeld Confidential today.

Villagers came to the hunter/collection owner when they found out he was in town because this very crocodile had been preying on the village women when they were washing their clothes. Amongst the necklaces posed in his mouth they found the bones of multiple women!!!

This little guy was sitting on the bottom of a shelf, forgotten in an administrative room. I dont know why but he's my favorite I think of the entire collection. I think it might be how his adorable innocence reminds me of my puppy!

A real life 2 headed turtle! Another piece I HIGHLY coveted in the collection.

After the previous 2, I think the kissing Otters were my third favorites of the place.

A once world record polar bear that apparently nearly killed the hunter in the process of obtaining him.

Stalking out his prey.

Albino raccoon!

The ranch also keeps a large collection of live peacocks with a variety of other animals. This one was saying goodbye to use it seemed, needless to say it was quite windy that day. If you're in the Four Corners area and are ever curious to go yourself, just go here, and call ahead to make an appointment to view the premises.

Teaser

Just a teaser photo for tonight. I'll post the good stuff tomorrow. Pictures are from my recent short trip back home to New Mexico. We went to a SUPER LARGE personal collection/museum, FULL of unique stuff I'm looking forward to sharing :D

The Time Warp

Here's some images I found inspiring today, a bunch are from Morbid Anatomy, etc. I spent over 13 hours hand cutting, trimming and gluing literally thousands of latex scales onto a catsuit for a celebs Grammy party performance today. My brain is quite fried. I will try to take a detail shot of it at least to hopefully show you guys. Even though it was a painstaking and frustrating process, the end result which looks like alien skin is quite amazing.

In other news I can't get enough Rocky Horror Picture soundtrack! What's up with that??!

Happy birthday to me!

Not a normal post for me but it's my birthday so I'll do what I want, bitch! Anyways, today was my birthday, and I just wanted to thank everyone out there for all the well wishes you've given me, I feel soooo loved! I came home and found that my boyfriend appeared to have started the "party" without me before he had to head to work (yes that is a d & d manual next to an alligator head and rubber finger licking photo, I live a strange life, lol). And one of my close friends from work gave me the COOLEST cupcake book wrapped in an adorable hello kitty bag that was full of additional goodies. Then out for pho and cake, all day lots a cake, which kinda makes me laugh cause last year I got no cake and was feeling a bit lonely after having just started a new job. Just goes to show you how many things can change in a year! Thanks again you guys, you really are the best!

Who will save the sane?

I just found artist Raf Veulemans. I'm not sure I could put his work any better then him so here's how his website describes what he does:

In his artistic search Raf wants to make the perishable eternal.
He is fascinated by the beauty and fragility of non-living animals.
In our society we are often frightened by death and all that has to do with it. We don't want to confront death, we don't want to realize that we aren't here forever on this world.
Through his work, he tries to bring back life and beauty into the animals.
What may seem shocking from a far, can be beautiful up close

What a great way of putting it! He works exclusively with animals that have died from natural causes, and explores the technique he calls "airbrush" and then outfits most of the pieces with dramatic lighting. He seems to go to painstaking lengths to prepare the bodies of each animal to hold the paint he applies without decay, and has gone so far as to employ old Egyptian mummy techniques to keep the pieces n pristine condition. Each of his pieces seem to come to life on their own terms once they are put together, and are quite fascinating! Visit his site here!

I need you in my life

The show doesn't even open until tomorrow but already most of the selection from Liz McGrath's latest show is sold. This piece however, my most absolute favorite is not. Oh how I wish I had $1900 I could drop on a piece of art, and the fact that this will probably raise drastically in value over time should make it an investment. But alas, I am not financially secure enough at this point to make this kind of investment, no matter how insanely amazing it is. I really wanted to attend the opening of this show tomorrow but they're expecting such a flood of people that they recommend rsvp'ing, and while I love an opening, I don't love huge crowds so I think I may have to visit this one on a later date. I think I may be going to the Dirty Show instead since it's a limited engagement, pics of both if I do make it out. And let me know if you get to see the McGrath exhibit before I do, I'd love to hear how it is!

Street style

Wish I was rocking these three looks! Via stylesightings