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Divya Anantharaman left her ready-to-wear job to found her taxidermy business, Gotham Taxidermy. Today, she creates pieces for museums, galleries and private collectors, and hopes to inspire wonder and the desire to protect species.
“A lot of people, when they meet me, tell me that’s not how they imagined a taxidermist. So I ask them, “Why? Because I’m feminine? Because I’m not white? What’s this ?“Divya’s job is to bring dead animals back to life. For Brut, she explains her daily life.
After a job in ready-to-wear, Divya decided to leave everything to become a taxidermist. This desire stems from his passion for animals and historical museums. “My discovery of animals was made mainly in natural history museums, through dioramas and exhibition models. It fascinated me that we could take an animal at the end of its life to make it an artistic and aesthetic object.”, explains the young woman.
The preservation of animal skins has been practiced for thousands of years. But this activity is sometimes associated with poaching or animal abuse. Yet, according to Divya, today’s taxidermists are striving to work more ethically. “Taxidermy has a bad reputation because of its history. Today, animals are obtained legally and sustainably. Many taxidermists are very transparent about how they get their supplies. For me, it’s important to tell people where the animals I stuff come from.”
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