another artist whose work inspires me is alex cf.
alex’s artistic endeavours took a backseat when he landed the job as curator for a rather unusual collection of zoological artefacts. alex is currently the sole custodian of the merrylin cryptid collection:
“In 2006, a trust was set up to analyze and collate a huge number of wooden crates found sealed in the basement of a London townhouse that was due to be demolished. Seemingly untouched since the 1940’s, the crates contained over 5000 specimens of flora and fauna, collected, dissected, and preserved by many forgotten scientists, professors and explorers of obscure cultures and species. The collection also housed many artifacts of curious origin, fragments of civilizations that once ruled the earth, of ideas and belief systems better left in the past.”
‘l’enfant diaboloque’ [above] is one of my favourite specimens from the collection that has been made public.
sadly some of the specimens and artefacts have been sold off to private collections over the years to fund the storage and restoration of larger collection. although before they have been shipped off, alex has photographed and documented these extensively.
the book ‘Many Dead Things; The specimens of Lord Merrylin’, is a photographic collection of these artefacts. i am pleased to report that i have a copy of the book ordered – can’t wait for it to arrive!
please take a look at alex’s blog [link] and investigate more of this curious collection for yourself.