I was looking for information about Mike McGregor a few months ago when I came upon this article that reintroduced me to Daniëlle van Ark, whose work I had seen once long ago and definitely needed to be reminded of. Like others, van Ark “ventured inside archives… of natural history museums full of fauna in stasis.” I feel like, more than anything else, van Ark’s photographs showcase the expressions of the taxidermy animal subjects. Similar to Klaus Pichler’s, the images depict the bright white collection spaces with animals subtly “interacting,” either with each other or with their home in storage. It’s odd how the creatures appear to be looking around, contemplating their environment, resisting in a way, or almost commiserating together. At first glance, the pictures are portraits of the mounts, sometimes with a pleasant color background, but they have sort of a “Night at the Museum” feel, like maybe no one’s looking so they’re considering making their escape.

Visit artist's site: daniellevanark.com