This project draws from Thalken's investigations of a taxidermy shop outside of Atlanta. The body of work includes portrait-like images of taxidermied animals in process as well as abstracted close-ups...
This project draws from Thalken's investigations of a taxidermy shop outside of Atlanta. The body of work includes portrait-like images of taxidermied animals in process as well as abstracted close-ups of animal hide, fur, and surfaces, such as the salt floor of the shop. Among the images is a detail of animal scratches on a steel exterior door of the shop. The taxidermy process is denoted with varying degrees of subtlety. The completed animals appear alive, while others are pinned and taped and in process of becoming "animal". A signature image depicts a pair of antlers, taped together and hanging from wire. Thalken's imagery evokes comparisons between taxidermy and embalming, humans and animals, life and death, and speaks to loss and grief.