Life After Death After Life

 

2021

Media: Taxidermic European starling, polymer clay, dried leaves and flowers

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This work is inspired by the taxidermy sculptures of Polly Morgan. It shows the recycling of nutrients (the biogeochemical cycle) which takes place after a living organism dies naturally.

This piece aims to expose the reality of death and the following decompositional processes which are essential for the continuation of life. People tend to shy away from death and decay, opting to preserve our dead through processes such as embalming in order to retain the appearance of life in someone that has died, before burying them in a container which further delays the process of decay. In nature, decomposers, such as insects, fungi and certain microbes, break down the organic material into nutrients which can be utilised by surrounding plants. These plants and their nutrients can then be consumed and utilised by animals and so the cycle continues. While this work may be interpreted as showing the macabre side of life (or simply the end of life), it should rather be seen as a celebration of life and its continuation after the death of one organism in many other organisms.

The piece will be displayed on a decomposing piece of wood, such as the one shown above. The fungi, moss and plants growing from the wood act as a continuation of the piece, emphasising the biogeochemical process.