Taxidermist: SLEEP NO MORE

Mixed Media, 2024

3×5 inches

Outside Lid: 3 Deer heads from Bargarran Taxidermy Sign

Inside Lid: 5th floor goat and gate opening of the maze: brass goat and platform, surrounded by cast resin branches and moss painted gold

Potions:

  1. Bargarran vs Fulton: orange lily for antagonistic relationship; purple carnation for recklessness (fight scene); dandelion for desperation, failure; nettle for duality, life/death situations; snapdragon for trickery, unknown motivations; lavender for distrust, disharmony; belladonna for duality, contradiction/ambiguity. In the bottom of the bottle: bones, red thread for string of fate and the shifting back-and-forth between Fulton and Taxi; Sealed with black wax and gold bird stamp.
  2. Taxi, identity, Hecate: barberry for magic, sorcery, being under the influence of another; labradorite for glamour, transformation, “becoming” (solo on 5th floor); mugwort for supernatural beings and spaces; poppy for warring humanity and inhumanity, and for giving in to base desires/instincts; magnolia for uncertain loyalties; calendula for possession, magical influence. In the bottom of the bottle: Tiny rodent bones and taxidermy tools in green resin for the Taxidermist’s office + the foreshadowing doom of green light. Sealed with black wax and gold thistle stamp.
  3. Taxi and Lady MacDuff: vervain for internal conflict; peony for guilt/shame; thorns for danger, corruption; goldenrod for indecision; murder, loss of innocence; garnet pebbles for blood, family ties. Peacock feather in bottom of bottle for Lady Macduff. Sealed with black wax and gold key stamp.
  4. Taxidermy, monotony: red tiger eye for single mindedness, focus; lisianthus and cloves for charm, charisma; rosemary for ritual, meticulousness, monotony; foxglove for insincerity, thinly-veiled sinister vibes. Needle and red thread in black resin in bottom of bottle for ordinary moments. Sealed with black wax and gold key stamp.
  5. Glass Cloche with black bird bound with red thread in a nest, wrapped in “traitor” paper.
  6. Green Shortie: bird silhouettes representing the birds’ circuitous journey between Taxi, Speaks, and Fulton; clear stopper with red thread and note attached (contains the murderer’s monologue and is removable from the thread but it’s also on the big paper inside the box so you don’t have to remove it). Transparent green bottle gain for the sinister aspects of green light and the journeys back and forth across Gallow Green.

Below are photos of the bottoms of the potion bottles so you can see the little secrets inside them:

MIscellaneous Items:

  1. Resin Crystal: containing two gumdrops (one green, one white) and syringe, for the 1:1.
  2. Teddy Bear with bone inside, sewn up with red thread.
  3. Black organza bag with brass turkey charm: contains a small resin crystal point (ft tiny raven skull, moss, and quote “blood will have blood) and a tiny screw cap bottle with gold fox skull on top (contains loose mouse vertebrae and ribs for the bone sculptures in the office, and also for a comparison of predator vs prey and Taxi with fox-like associations of trickery and deceit).
  4. Note with murderer’s monologue from Macbeth/Taxi 1:1 dialogue, and a peacock feather.