Life and death are major themes explored through the work of Claire Morgan, a U.K.-based artist who uses taxidermy and invisible wire to express both ideas. The result is a moment in time, one that conveys the beauty of the animal, its fragility, and our own strained relationship with nature. In a statement, Morgan says, “Through my work, I am looking at everyday life and death; and the ideas of entertainment, consumption, meaninglessness and loneliness are a part of that.”
The hanging works can turn and change with the air, further pushing the kinetic and fragile nature of the animals. With them, seeds, insects, or pieces of the animals itself are descended. The process is explorative for Morgan. On her Instagram account, she details the assembly and progress of these creations. “Exploring dead animals and other materials is a means by which I can make a connection with them,” she says, “but there is also something reductive in that approach, and something destructive, through its literal dissection of the animals, of the forms, of the materials, of movement.”
There are several current exhibitions in which you can experience these works for yourself. Among them are “Plenty More Fish in the Sea” at Musée Jean-Lurçat et de la tapisserie contemporaine (France), “Bzzzzz … viel fliegen” at Museum schloss Homburg (Germany), Claire Morgan and Fine Oceanic and Eskimo Art at Angela Berney Fine Arts (Switzerland), and starting June 18, “Cause & Effect” at The National Centre for Craft & Design (U.K.).
