Fisherman and artist Iori Tomita turns the process of preserving animals into an art form. Tomita, who studied ichthyology at university, uses a interesting staining method to bring colour to animal carcasses. This is his process as explained by Wired:
Tomita first removes the scales and skin of fish that have been preserved in formaldehyde. Next he soaks the creatures in a stain that dyes the cartilage blue. Tomita uses a digestive enzyme called trypsin, along with a host of other chemicals, to break down the proteins and muscles, halting the process just at the moment they become transparent but before they lose their form. The bones are then stained with red dye, and the brilliant beast is preserved in a jar of glycerin.
The staining process for each creature can take anywhere from five months to a year to be complete. The results are absolutely striking, have a look at some of the see-through creatures in his New World Transparent Specimens series after the jump.
See more images on Tomita’s website.
[via Trendland]
2 replies on “New World Transparent Specimens”
These are amazing. Does Lori sell his stained animal carcasses? I really wouldn’t mind having one of these on the mantle piece. Sure beats having gutted animals stuffed with sand hanging on the walls.
According to the Internet, Tomita’s coloured cadavers are on sale at the Tokyu Hands department store.