Technically, taxidermy means rearranging skin. Therefor the skin is removed from the original, dead body. To prevent it from decay the taxidermist tans the skin. Then the skin is brought back into a placement around a body. The first taxidermy attempts used bodies made out of clay. Later on, upholstery shops “stuffed” the hides they got from hunters with rags and cotton. This is where the term ‘stuffed animal’ derives from. This stuffing technique became more sophisticated over time and cotton-wrapped or straw-wire bodies came into use. Today, a professional taxidermist uses PU-foam casts to make a mounted animal. The result is a life-like, but very hard and sturdy sculpture.

For me, life-like doesn’t necessarily mean a visual representation of a living pose. Life is more than that. The act of living is also kept in the act of caressing and touching. So, to bring back some life into the animal I prefer more softness. Therefor I invented SOFT TAXIDERMY; a special treatment of the skin and a specific filling make my animal mounts soft and tender. Because of this tenderness the animals ask for to be caressed, they become sensitive and very sentimental creatures.