Held In Place
Location
FA-203
Start Date
1-5-2026 10:10 AM
Department
Art + Design
Abstract
My senior exhibition explores taxidermy as a transformation rather than a morbid act. A space where death becomes preservation and loss becomes display. The work began after witnessing a woman carefully taxidermy a deceased bird and pose it to appear alive. Seeing the stillness of its body moments before, I was struck by the illusion of rebirth. That tension between what is gone and what appears lifelike reshaped my understanding of endings. I began to see taxidermy as a reset of form and meaning. Taxidermy exposes a deeply human desire to preserve what we fear losing and resist disappearance. There is an unsettling quality in encountering a body that once lived and is now arranged to mimic life, a tension that becomes pronounced in my use of birds, which symbolize movement and freedom. Displayed flightless and frozen, they create a contradiction between motion and immobility. Working in mixed media, I emphasize layering and visible construction, drawing attention to the taxidermy process itself. By revealing rather than concealing the interior processes of taxidermy, cutting, hollowing, and exposing what is usually hidden, I invite viewers to sit with discomfort and consider how an ending can be rearranged, recontextualized, and made to begin again.
Faculty Sponsor
Nate Mathews
Held In Place
FA-203
My senior exhibition explores taxidermy as a transformation rather than a morbid act. A space where death becomes preservation and loss becomes display. The work began after witnessing a woman carefully taxidermy a deceased bird and pose it to appear alive. Seeing the stillness of its body moments before, I was struck by the illusion of rebirth. That tension between what is gone and what appears lifelike reshaped my understanding of endings. I began to see taxidermy as a reset of form and meaning. Taxidermy exposes a deeply human desire to preserve what we fear losing and resist disappearance. There is an unsettling quality in encountering a body that once lived and is now arranged to mimic life, a tension that becomes pronounced in my use of birds, which symbolize movement and freedom. Displayed flightless and frozen, they create a contradiction between motion and immobility. Working in mixed media, I emphasize layering and visible construction, drawing attention to the taxidermy process itself. By revealing rather than concealing the interior processes of taxidermy, cutting, hollowing, and exposing what is usually hidden, I invite viewers to sit with discomfort and consider how an ending can be rearranged, recontextualized, and made to begin again.