The main impetus for our family to take this extended trip to Cairns was the opportunity for Jess to learn as much as she can about the art of Fish Taxidermy with expert Steven Mathews of Australian Fish Mounts. As many of you know, Jess has a keen interest in animal taxidermy, particularly mammals and birds but is also keen to learn what she can about the processes with other animals as well. So when this opportunity came up for Jess to learn from one of the most experienced marine taxidermists in Australia, who is also recognised internationally for his expertise we jumped at the chance to come! So what is fish taxidermy? How do you stuff a fish? |
A mould is taken of the body of the fish, and of the inside of the mouth and throat (for those mounts that are cast with their mouths open) and also a mould of the fins. These are all shaped to the look you are after, some are wall mounts, some are pedestal mounts and some are suspended mounts. Once the fibreglass moulds are complete, both sides of each, the fish is then reconstructed as a model and painted by using photos and references of the actual fish or other fish of it's kind to achieve the realistic look of each individual fish. One of the challenges is that the fish can often change colour after they come out of the water so that photo references are essential.
So no, the fish are not stuffed, in fact they are hollow fibreglass reproductions!
The method that Steve uses ensures that the finest details appear on the fibreglass moulds which sometimes do need work depending on the success of the casting and mould process which takes practice to get it down to a fine art. The real art is in replicating the fish to be a realistic and lifelike fish.
Below the photographs is an interesting youtube video of a store in Miami that has a large display of fish suspended below the ceiling in a rotating artistic way.
Hope you enjoy looking!