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| Photo: Rodger Cummins |
Julia deVille is a Melbourne-based artist who combines jewellery with taxidermy in her work. Her last exhibition, Night's Plutonian Shore, was held at Melbourne's Sophie Gannon Gallery from July the 27th to the 21st of August. I first read about Julia in an article from The Age which you can find here. I believe her work is hauntingly beautiful and an inspiring insight into the mortal condition; and this is why, along with my own interest in taxidermy, I caught up with Julia via email to ask her a few quick questions:
1. There is often the clichéd saying that “taxidermy is dead”. Do you believe this is so, both physically and metaphorically?
J: Definitely not! Firstly, in the last few years I have watched the change in reactions people have to my work.... when I first started doing taxidermy about 8 years ago people thought I was a freak. Now it's quite fashionable and acceptable. I also think taxidermy is life - I use it as a tool to remind one of their own mortality so they can appreciate the significance of life. The creatures look alive and they were alive, so to me they symbolise life.
2. You have said in your Artist Statement on your website that you consider your taxidermy to be “a celebration of life, a preservation of something beautiful”. Do you believe that all taxidermy achieves this; or rather that good taxidermy needs to contain a certain level of artistic quality in order to achieve this description?
J: Firstly, I don't think taxidermy can celebrate life if the animal’s life has been taken to create the piece. This is one of the reasons I only work on animals that have died of natural causes. I think the piece also has to be respectful to the life of the animal - that quote is referencing my taxidermy, not taxidermy in general.
3. I understand that your latest exhibition, Night's Plutonian Shore, is currently being held at Melbourne's Sophie Gannon Gallery. What is it like having your work put across to the public and its scrutiny, and what kinds of responses have been generated?
J: I love it. It is the highlight of my career, to be able to show the work that I am so proud of. I have had an amazing response - hundreds of people have been to see the show (about 400 on the opening night), I've sold nearly half the work and had a huge press response.
If only I could have gone! If you want to find more about Julia deVille, you can visit her website for more info, including photographs of her work.
Some people believe that taxidermy is creepy and disgusting. However I, like Julia, think that if the creature has died from natural causes then it is a celebration of life and mortality. After all, what about all the creatures that die on our roads every year? From habitat destruction? What happens to them?
It seems evident to me that taxidermy has come a long way since the Victorian era, and that it can only have an even brighter future – with a little help of course from people such as Julia.
