#mcadedu

Here’s my comic Final Dreams of the Sun. I had a ton of fun working on this!

My alma mater just ran a feature about the 15th anniversary of Rogue Taxidermy, a genre of mixed-media sculpture I was involved in forming back in 2004. The piece also includes 2 other MCAD alumni, @MaggieFalco and @JoelSisson, who create art that falls within the parameters of the genre. You owe it to yourself to check out their accounts and their fantastic work. Thank you Minneapolis College of Art and Design for keeping up with alumni. https://mcad.edu/features/celebrating-fifteenth-anniversary-rogue-taxidermy The genre of Rogue Taxidermy was created as a means to unite a wide range of existing types of work, not previously seen as being related, into a singular category of art. The genre is sometimes incorrectly described as an offshoot of traditional taxidermy. Neither the term nor the genre emerged from the world of traditional taxidermy; the genre was born from forms of fine art that utilize some of the same elements found in traditional taxidermy. The definition of "Rogue Taxidermy”, as set forth by the founders of the art movement, is "a genre of pop-surrealist art characterized by mixed-media sculptures containing conventional taxidermy-related materials that are used in an unconventional manner”. The common thread that ties work in the genre together is “taxidermy-related materials”. This means rogue taxidermy is not always a taxidermied animal, it can be made entirely of synthetic taxidermy supplies, bones, or mummified animals. Additionally it’s not necessarily figurative, it can be abstract. Rogue taxidermy runs the gamut from small decorative objects to room-sized installations. The spectrum of work within the genre ranges from D.I.Y. craft-caliber creations, to fine art exhibited in major museums, and everything in-between. In recent years the genre has been pigeonholed by the mainstream press for the sake of sensationalism and presented merely as fictional hybrid animals like the Jackalope and anthropomorphic taxidermy. In reality, those 2 types of work comprise only a small segment of the genre. I encourage you to Google “history of Rogue Taxidermy” to visit my website and learn more about this diverse art form.

In the studio

Inkjet ultra chrome and spray paint on paper.

Inkjet ultra chrome and spray paint on paper.

Inkjet ultra chrome and spray paint on paper.

Katherine Turczan’s Photography 2 class examine 4x5 negatives from their second architectural assignment. “Vernacular”.  Photograph by Andi Fink. 9/16/15.