Hi, I’m Mickey, an artist in Chicago exploring death, grief, and the natural world. My studio practice primarily includes taxidermy, jewelry, stained glass, and cyanotypes which naturally interlace with each other across projects.

As a trained taxidermist of more than a decade, I have had the incredible honor of teaching taxidermy workshops at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland, and more. My taxidermy work won a third place ribbon in the professional division at the National Taxidermy Championships and has been the subject of several short documentaries.

I have made and collected jewelry since I can remember — I even had a little business selling friendship bracelets from my lunch box in the cafeteria in middle school. I got my first taste of metalsmithing when I got to make a silver ring band in my high school art class and once I discovered the process of lost wax casting, it opened up a whole new world of artistic expression. When I first began practicing taxidermy in college, I also started incorporating the leftover bones and taxidermy materials like eyes and jawsets into my jewelry collection.

In the fall of 2012 my aunt passed away unexpectedly and I used dried florals from her funeral to make mourning jewelry for all of the women in my family — and thus, I became a mourning jeweler without ever intending to. Now I offer a range of fine memorial lockets and sentimental eye jewelry that I never could have dreamed of making at 22. It’s an honor to help give others something to hold onto in the absence of a loved one.

In my spare time I love making stained glass and I offer select pieces for sale on occasion. My cyanotypes can be viewed in person at my Chicago studio during open studio events. I collect taxidermy, wet specimens, antique and vintage medical and dental ephemera, and glass mannequin heads. I grew up in Michigan and am a graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, holding a BA in Urban and Regional Studies.

I spent my senior year making jewelry out of squirrel teeth instead of studying for the LSAT, and look where it got me. Thank you for being here — let me know if you need anything.