Decorating your apartment with dead animals would come back into fashion. It would even be a respectful gesture for the environment, according to artist Vanessa Rondeau, who sees taxidermy as a discipline that has evolved over the years. 24 hours met her in her studio, The Old Cavern Boutique.
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“People like to have things that make people talk,” explains Vanessa Rondeau, 28, in the middle of a hundred stuffed animals that are in what she calls her “museum”.
Giraffe, leopard, zebra, hyena or tiger… we are not in the heart of Africa, but in Joliette, northeast of Montreal.
“These are things that increase in value over time,” she explains to 24 hours. Since the age of 4, the Quebecer has been collecting dead animals. She even made it her job. In her workshop, she makes decorative pieces from frog skeletons or weasel skulls.
“We’re going to take all the things that taxidermists wouldn’t do: mice, snakes… We work with things that are vintage. A hunting deer head from the 70s, we will try to make it a little more up to date by adding flowers, trying to honor this animal, with pearls, for example.
In the basement, Vanessa Rondeau shows us one of her projects that sold well during Christmas. “It’s collections of penis bones from different animals: wolf, otter, raccoon, fox.”
Popular on social networks
Taxidermy could be reminiscent of an outdated decoration, good for a hunter’s cabin deep in the woods, but a new generation of artists is bringing the discipline back to life, in particular thanks to social networks.
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The key word taxidermy has been used over three billion times on TikTok. Artists wear the badge top seller on the Etsy platform thanks to the sale of coyote skulls and “cute baby red octopus”.
According to Vanessa Rondeau, the clientele of her The Old Cavern Boutique is no older than 35 and the vast majority are vegan.
Photo Axel Tardieu
Many of the creations sold are framed bones.
Reuse instead of throwing away
Gabrielle Robichaud, a customer passing through the boutique met by 24 hours, would like to buy everything. “My interest in all of this started when I bought my first horse skull.” This animal lover admits that her new passion for decoration raises a lot of questions around her.
“For me, it’s a way of honoring them, instead of throwing everything in the trash.”
This passion is not looked upon favorably, confirms Vanessa. “I’m often told: ‘You kill animals’, but I’ve never killed an animal in my life. I do this because I love animals.
Where do these bones come from?
To give new life to these dead animals, the Quebecer goes around garage and estate sales. It maintains a network with pet shops, zoos and import companies.
“Sometimes they have tarantulas or snakes that die. Every time, someone calls me: “I found a squirrel in my swimming pool”. They give me a squirrel and we do something with it”.
Photo Axel Tardieu
Inexpensive and easy to find, mice are the animal most used by Vanessa Rondeau.
The Old Cavern Boutique also works with farms, such as Les Agneaux d’Épicure, in Saint-Norbert. After the cheeks and brains are removed, breeder Elisabeth Gladu sets aside lamb skulls to give to Vanessa instead of throwing them away.
“It’s a way to reduce our environmental footprint and allow a local business to showcase this product and make it profitable,” explains Élisabeth Gladu.
Even though Vanessa Rondeau’s workshop is already full, she is always on the lookout for new pieces. “I want a dinosaur egg. A hippopotamus would be cool, but it’s big and I don’t have the space,” she imagines, all smiles.
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