The Last Sleep

This project draws inspiration from feathered leather objects held in the collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, particularly hats adorned with taxidermied birds, often exotic species, which remained highly fashionable until the mid-twentieth century. Some reached spectacular proportions and were frequently ridiculed for their extravagance. Yet behind this excess lay an ecological disaster: this fashion contributed to the mass killing of bird populations.

Made from goose feathered leather applied to moulded leather, The Last Sleep depicts an enormous bird curled around the wearer’s head. Through its scale and opulence, it entirely conceals the face, blurring the boundaries between the two bodies. The vengeful bird appears to have taken jealous possession of its wearer.
Is this ‘last sleep’ that of the bird, or that of its wearer?