Laura Ross
Communications Officer, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
Taxidermy, if done well, can be a powerful art form that can preserve a species in time, allowing an audience the opportunity to explore the beauty of nature, up close and personal. Jazmine Miles-Long, an ethical taxidermist from Sussex, tells us more about her work and its place in helping to promote and educate future generations about conservation.
It's fair to say being an ethical taxidermist isn’t your average job! How did you end up in this field?
When I graduated from Sculpture at Brighton University I volunteered at the Booth Museum of Natural History in 2007, where I was shown the craft of taxidermy, and I have been doing it ever since. I work with museums and galleries all over the UK, and internationally, to create work for exhibitions, science collections and education. I also create my own art work and advocate for ethical sustainable practices through delivering lectures and workshops at various institutions.
Could you tell us a bit more about the process?
Taxidermy involves a wide range of skills from leather tanning, carving, sculpting, model making, casting, sewing, painting, chemistry and more. All the animals I work with have died from natural causes, for example they may have flown into a window, been killed by a cat or another animal, or died from old age or illness. When an animal dies and is found by a member of the public it's either donated directly to me or to a museum and then frozen to keep it safe until I can work with it. Taxidermy is a sculpture of an animal using just the skin of that animal - and sometimes the skull. I create a solid replica of the animal's muscular structure by binding wood wool around a wire frame to build up the structure or I carve the animal's shape using balsa wood and adding details onto this form with clay. I process the skin of the animal and clean it and for mammals I tan the skin into leather. I then sculpt the skin onto my form using as much reference material as I can and measurements I have taken from the animal to make an accurate recreation. I use glass or acrylic eyes and when the skin is fully dry I sculpt on top of the skin to add details and paint any un-feathered or un-furry skin so it looks lifelike.
What role do you feel taxidermy plays in raising the profile of nature?
Taxidermy is still vitally important for science collections and education, and if done well, it can be a truly beautiful, delicate representation of an animal. These taxidermy sculptures can be used to teach about conservation, climate change, biodiversity and gives us the opportunity to see these animals up close and understand how precious their life was.
You talk about your work being ethical, can you tell us more about that?
It is important for me to limit my environmental footprint in my practice and I do this by using as many natural, responsibly sourced and sustainable materials as possible. I also try to limit the use of chemicals in my work and am currently learning a new method of leather tanning using only organic materials.
We've heard you're a big fan of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve?
Yes, I visit often with my family - it's one of our favourite places to go for a walk. We love spotting the seals down by the beach and I'm a big fan of the Oystercatchers when they're in their large groups squawking.
Tell us something about you we might not know.
I do not collect taxidermy! I think because people assume I would be a taxidermy fan they think I may have a large collection, but I don't. I'm also a vegetarian which can be a surprise to some people.
You can find out more about Jazmine's work here.
This post is also available on Sussex Wildlife Trust website
