Australian artist Julia deVille has created a menagerie of ethically-sourced animals. From pure white piglets dusted with flower petals, fawns sleeping on silver platters, to kittens pulling funeral hearses, and even a Puss in Boots– her taxidermy sculptures are like something out of a Victorian period fairytale. She titles this ongoing series “Disce Mori”, a twist on Memento Mori, the Latin phrase for reflecting on one’s morality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life. In their vanity, her works combine deceased animals with precious gems, metals and fine antiques. deVille expresses her pity for these creatures, which she presents with a child like humor and sense of realism. Driven by her beliefs in animal rights, her work contradicts trophy-hunting culture, and the subsequent mounting of animals. Rather than valuing them in their death as hunters do, she preserves them in charming scenes that convey the beauty of life.
French artist 
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Rainbow-colored mannequin legs, animal bones, skulls, and gold- these are just a few of the materials used in