There’s a gentle artistry to a museum taxidermist’s craft – Aeon

This short captures Tim Bovard, the staff taxidermist for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, as he reflects on over five decades spent perfecting his craft. Sparked by a childhood fascination with the museum’s dioramas that never faded, Bovard has devoted his career to shaping what he calls the ‘illusion of life’ – a process that requires both scientific precision and imaginative interpretation. Moving between his workshop, where he’s preparing a European starling for display, and the museum’s galleries, Bovard considers how these dioramas can help shape the public’s understanding of the nonhuman animal world. His reflections resonate deeply at a time when many people have limited contact with wildlife, and many of the species depicted in these displays are disappearing at alarming rates.
Video by PBS
Producer: Nic Cha Kim
videoThe environment
For some, taxidermy is a practice about art, science and a love of wildlife
21 minutes
videoArt
From archaeology digs to display cabinets: how museums bring exhibits to life
37 minutes
videoAnimals and humans
Are zoos and natural history museums born of a desire to understand, or to control?
57 minutes
videoHistory of science
A museum’s uneasy alliance between scientists and flesh-eating beetles
3 minutes
videoArt
The inadvertent art of tiny bodies – stunning, hidden patterns of animal movement
10 minutes
videoBiology
Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings
3 minutes
videoHistory of science
The sprawling, stinking marvels of a natural history museum’s specimens
7 minutes
videoHistory of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes
videoBiology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
Follow Aeon
Sign up to our newsletter
Updates on everything new at Aeon.
© Aeon Media Group Ltd. 2012-2026. Privacy Policy. Terms of Use.
Aeon is published by registered charity Aeon Media Group Ltd in association with Aeon America, a 501(c)(3) charity.

source