My friend David Roy Marsh was kind enough to lend his modeling skills to help me in a photoshoot to show off some of my recent taxidermy work. This black wolf is one of my favorite headdresses so far! It was made on commission so is not for sale. I got the pelt secondhand from a fellow taxidermist who had no use for it himself.
David rather reminds me of the character Floki from History Channel’s “Vikings” series. His look and mannerisms are uncannily similar, so we tried to catch an element of “trickster-ness” in this series of shots. David makes a dramatic transformation of sorts when he lowers his head to show off his wolf cloak.
DAMNNNNNNNNN
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Black wolves do not occur naturally. A 2008 study at Stanford University found that the mutation responsible for black fur occurs only in dogs, so black wolves are the result of gray wolves breeding back with domestic canines. The mutation is a dominant trait, like dark hair in humans, and is passed down to the majority of offspring. It is not entirely clear what benefit black fur has for the animals; they do not seem to be more successful hunters, but do show a marked improvement in immunity to certain infections.cool!
Sculptures and installations by Nicholas Galanin.
this is incredible holy shit