Poor Pretty Jane, 2019. Coptic bound collection of ink and watercolor drawings.

In 2018 I spent a month interning in the conservation department at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum. As I visited different departments and their collections I realized the museum occupied an interesting niche in the LA cultural sector. It houses specimens like bones, pelts, feathers, taxidermy, bugs and fish which scientists use for their research. But it also houses an eclectic array of art and artifacts, including some costumes from Hollywood’s Golden Age which often found their way into the conservation lab before exhibitions.

This series of illustrations was a reflection on the biological specimens I got to see with a bit of a horror-fantasy twist. I heard a rumor that the bad taxidermy, objects with arsenic preservatives, and any radioactive minerals were stored in a tunnel under the museum. I had an idea that if the toxic specimens were reincarnated they might be captivated by the costumes and artifacts they found in the museum and decide to play dress up in the displays.

The title comes from a song I was listening to that summer by Jane Jane Pollock.