Momento Macabre began with a simple instinct: to showcase the beauty that already exists within the macabre. To reframe what is often dismissed, feared, or misunderstood, and allow it to be seen differently. Beauty found in darker forms.

 

Insects sit at the heart of this instinct. Tiny beings beneath our feet and surrounding us, quietly sustaining the world as we know it, yet so often met with disgust. Their importance is overlooked, their forms misunderstood. Through reimagining these creatures as relics rather than pests, the work invites a pause. A moment to look again.

 

By creating faux taxidermy insects adorned with silver, gilded finishes, beads, and cameos, these small lives are elevated into objects of reverence. Not transformed for shock, but presented as something to be cherished, admired, and lasting.

 

There is also reassurance in what the work is not. No insect is harmed, and no sourcing questions linger. In a world where ethical certainty is increasingly difficult, the faux nature of these pieces removes doubt entirely. Even those who love insects can find comfort in knowing that nothing living was taken to create what hangs on the wall.

 

The work has always been led by making. By turning something into nothing, and nothing into something worth keeping. While curating insect pieces, a gap became impossible to ignore. Gothic homeware existed, but offerings were limited, so the work expanded.

 

Architectural fragments followed. Miniature relics for the home. Objects intended to feel as though they had been dismantled from history and given a second life on the wall. Early prototypes chased weight and authenticity, until it became clear that the same presence could exist in lighter forms, and that some people needed that. That realisation opened the door to something important.

 

These pieces are not finished when they leave the mould. Colour, finish, and weight are chosen by the person who will live with them. Because there is nothing more frustrating than finding the perfect piece for a carefully curated space, only to discover it cannot be hung.

 

The work is made here. The rest is chosen by you.