Afke Golsteijn
Dutch artist Afke Golsteijn isn't the first to work with dead animals as her medium, but none quite achieve the same sweetly creepy aesthetic that comes from her joining of taxidermy and finely wrought details. Equal parts Edgar Allan Poe, Grimm's Fairytales (she calls them "Contemporary Fairytales"), and a more feminine David Altmejd, Golsteijn's work at times reads like a literalized metaphor, such as in "Lost Love," a collection of preserved blue butterflies encased in a mirrored glass stomach (pictured here) or in the humorous "Sleeping Hare" that wears a racing jersey. Other pieces are more enigmatic, tucking delicate beadwork into a bunny's ears (pictured) or resting a glass human heart on a dead swan's chest. Working with materials like fur, animals, glass, silver, and thread, her Victorian touches lend forlorn beauty to slightly morbid subjects.
