Hello everyone!

Fox Skull, Victorian era dress remnants, antique jewels, relics from Salzburg’s castle, quartz crystal, antique rosary beads, antique lace, mixed media

It’s been 5 years between posts, I can’t believe it! How did that happen? I don’t even know how to catch up on that…. I certainly seem to have been so busy that I’ve obviously been quite neglectful!

So, I guess, “Highlights!”

Some of the highlights from the past   ∞ h a l f   a   d e c a d e ∞   include:

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not bought *almost* my entire collection, and distributed my pieces into their museums in Asia, Canada, USA and Australia, for permanent public display.  So if you happen to travel and visit their museums, please send me pictures of my work if you see it! They also included my Kitsune in their Odd Is Art Book and I’m beyond stoked at this.

I have attended a few Fairs: The Rites Of Passage Festival, The Endangered Skills Show and the The Other Art Fair where I sold many pieces and connected with some lovely people.  I have also done a few group shows between the Fairs.

Personally, I moved house and studios (twice!) and worked with Rest In Pieces, a taxidermy workshop company. I made a book and a 2019 calendar (both sold out now), and I’ve made a LOT of foxes and domes, too numerous to mention, in a few differing styles, of which my favourite, St Apollonia, is pictured above.

At this moment I’m happily nesting and preparing for new exhibitions and projects for the new year ≤2020≥, and have been updating my website with current information, some of the artworks that have come and gone (while I blinked), and others that I have currently available for purchase.

I am also creating fox head-dresses, keep an eye out for those, if you fancy going about town á la mode. I’ll be experimenting with new ideas and will be working with my favourite animals, CATS!

Please get in touch if you are interested in anything and follow me on Instagram for the latest updates: @lucia.mocnay (I’ve changed my name a few times there though I am proud to say I have not had a 5 year hiatus). Those posts also get forwarded to my Art Account on Facebook: @luciamocnay so you can catch up there. And, I am in the process of updating my mailing list so subscribe there if you please, for direct info to your inbox.

Thanks so much for the ongoing support and I hope to see you all at a show, or find you connecting in the online world very soon 🙂

Much love!

∴♥⊇ Lucia ⊆♥∴

Hi all,

Just a reminder, this Wednesday is the launch of our new exhibition!

I hope you can make it along to celebrate the art of ‘Mythologia’

WHERE: Melbourne City Library – Flinders Lane right near Degraves st.

LAUNCH: Wednesday 7th December 6pm-7.45pm

OPEN: December 2nd – January 9th 2017.

WHO: Animatronic sculptural artist James Cattell, photographic artist Aglaia Bolis, and myself, Anthropomorphic taxidermy artist, Lucia Mocnay.

There will be a few surprises on the night.

We really hope you can make it along!

x Lucia

Hello

This Saturday is the Opening of the beinArt galleries Small Works Group Show.

I have a piece in there, titled “Saint Demiurge”

Click the image above for more details.

Here is my piece –

Made of foraged rabbit bones, antique Victorian era textiles and embellishments sourced from the Schaumburg-Lippe’s Royal family of Germany. There is a sodalite cabachon in there aswell.

The time has come to invite you all to my big show!

I am over the moon with excitement to be showing the largest collection of my work to date, alongside two American artists, at the new beinArt Gallery.
I would love for you to come and meet my curious characters.

“Curios”
Lucia Mocnay, Jason D’aquino & Scott G. Brooks

WHEN: 28th May –  25th June 2016
Opening reception – 6pm – 9pm Saturday May 28th.

WHERE: beinArt Gallery / 1 Sparta Place, Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia
PHONE: +61 420949925
http://www.beinart.org

All works will be for sale.

Please put the date in your diaries, I’d be delighted to see you there.
I am flying overseas the very next day so it will be a great chance to say aloha & adieu.

∴♥∴ Lucia

Greetings!

As part of my second series of full bodied taxidermy pieces, I made this 9 tailed Kitsune fox early this year.

Kitsune’s are mythological creatures from Japanese folklore, fox spirits with multiple tails who can shape-shift into other creatures, including humans. The stories are varied as to whether they are deceptive or helpful, depending on how you treat them. The more tails they have, the older and wiser they are, 9 being the upper limit. They shape-shift by tying a skull onto their heads – the skull of whatever creature they want to shape-shift into. They possess a small white ball called hoshi no tama, which holds their magical power, and if a human manages to attain a kitsune’s hoshi no tama, they can control them. Many kitsunes shape-shift into geishas by day and seduce and marry men. Then at night they sneak out to be foxy in the wild. Ladies who have foxy/feline features are rumoured to be Kitsunes, and superstitious folk look for tails peeking out from underneath their kimonos.

The particular fable I based this piece on, is one where a young man happens upon a hurt fox in the woods, who is trapped by a fallen tree. As he is kind, he lifts the tree and saves the fox, and in order to repay him, she shape-shifts into a beautiful geisha, and devises a plan. “Take me to the nearest town to their most exquisite brothel. Sell me to the owner for no less than 3000 pennies.” This seemed like much too much money, and the young man thought it would never work, though obligingly he did as the Kitsune asked. When there, she uses her magic and beauty to charm the brothel owner and he happily pays a mint for her, thinking his new geisha would be his prized possession and would bring him much business once word got around of her presence. After the deal was done, the young man, amazed at his new fortune though reluctant to leave her there, goes back to the woods to continue his journey. That night the Kitsune shape-shifts back into fox form and escapes the brothel to find the young man in the woods, where she turns back into geisha form, and they marry and make a house deep in the woods and live happily ever after with their new found fortune.

It was tons of fun researching and making this piece. I have an affinity with Japan and it just made me want to go back there and explore the countryside some more. My Kitsune’s clothing is sourced from Japan from recycled kimonos and a vintage obi – (kimono belt). The hoshi no tama (spirit ball) is from a museum collection from Hervey Bay, Australia, it’s an antique Japanese Ojime bead made from mother of pearl, used on the Inro – in other words, a special bead that closes a little pouch that served as a pocket, tied to the kimono’s obi belt as kimono’s don’t have pockets. A very important accessory worn in the olden days, holding ones money and treasures and medicines. It was such a great find, it seems like that one piece was meant to be for this Kitsune, and it somehow ended up here in Australia for me to find. You can see it dangling from one of Kitsune’s tails, as that’s where they hide them.

Hoshi no tama. Antique Japanese Ojime bead made of Mother of Pearl.

Hope you enjoyed the read and the mini history/folk tale lesson!

I’ll be posting more photos of Kitsune in the near future, on my social media sites.

Have a great day! ♥⇔♥

Lucia