It appears to be more common in homes, museums, shops, music videos and movies. Some may not have an easy stomach for it, but let’s get this straight, taxidermy is an art — maybe a morbid-art — in which the artist preserves animals by preparing, skinning, and stuffing the skins to make a life-like specimen.

 

Ankixa Risk, of Hamilton, is a self taught, anthropomorphic taxidermist. Ankixa took part in Fan Expo, Toronto 2015. Anthropomorphic taxidermy is the style displaying the animals with human characteristics, in an animated fashion. She was always interested in this art but it became a hobby, she says, in San Francisco more than 15 years ago. When she came across a store with little mice in Victorian costumes and fell in love with anthropomorphic taxidermy. 

 

Ankixa has worked on movies, creating props such as squirrel and rabbit pelts. Ankixa describes the movie as a post-apocalyptic production, with a huntress and her ‘fresh kill’ and the significance of using these props.

 

“Well, they’re beautiful for one thing,” Ankixa said. “It’s sort of a natural beauty but there’s still something off about it. Some people might view it as the bastardisation of beauty and it may be shocking for that reason but it’s also very beautiful to other people.”

 

These specimens can represent a bold statement that can be symbolic and also used as a technique in music videos and films.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie Keil, principal of Innis College at the University of Toronto and professor in cinema studies, explains how throughout the classic Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho (1960), the birds and victims are shot in the same frame — It’s premeditated. The main character, Norman Bates, played by actor Anthony Perkins in the film, had a collection of stuffed birds throughout scenes in the film with significance you may not catch the first time watching this film — they may seem ominous. The birds are stuffed by the disturbed murderer in the film and Keil says they are symbolic of the women he murders in the film.

 

“The most prominent feature of a bird can be the beak; when Norman stabs Marion with a knife, it resembles the beak,” Keil said.

 

With the trending ‘Do It Yourself’ culture — now with the magic of the Internet — it is convenient to use online tutorials to learn the process of taxidermy. But if you can’t DIY, you may need to check out a prop store. Hand Prop Inc., is a well-known Toronto-based prop shop. Jeff Horn, employee at Hand Prop Inc, says a good use of props is to fill a scene — no matter what the prop may be.

 

“I find a lot of the props that I rent are a lot of filler for a lot of background scenes. So usually for an airport scene, you’d rent a lot of luggage, and for a school scene, you’d rent a lot of books and backpacks,” Horn said.

 

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http://mentalfloss.com/article/13067/11-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-taxidermy

 

Its props are used for set designers, films, television, commercials and theatrical productions. The majority of their products are every day objects. The majority of the time, props are placed specifically in a scene, it’s not just coincidence.

 

Production companies use this life-less art and makes it as life-like as possible.

Ankixa said she has been asked by animal rights activists where she gets the animals she uses in her art. She said the animals are donated to her by a local reptile zoo, who receives its supplies by a reptile feeder company. The specimens are given to her frozen and then she begins her process, which is skinning the animals.
 

“I skin the animals and all of the meat gets donated back to the zoo,” Ankixa said. “I think a lot of people have that misconception (about the process), it’s far less gross than gutting a fish.”

 

Although it is a trending interest, taxidermy has existed since man started hunting. In the 1700s, it served two purposes — to preserve man’s kill and to save any unfamiliar biological specimens. Before this, the closest thing was painting or drawing an animal, which was seen as inaccurate and

 

Next time you watch a horror film or gothic video, look out for any specimens and see if you can catch the symbolism behind it.