© Mark Clifford / Barcroft Media
TWO dead duckings scraped from under the wheels of a car and stitched together are up for sale – for a MILLION pounds.
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Welcome to the wacky world of roadkill artist Adam Morrigan who has already sold framed carcasses of badges, hares and foxes.
The 40 year old dad of three is causing such a stir in the art world his latest masterpiece has a seven figure price tag.
Adam, from Horsley, Gloucestershire, said: “I’m open to offers but if the ducklings were going to go to auction then I would insist on a reserve of a million pounds. This is my life-time creation.”
But despite such a lofty figure, the framed piece called Roadkill Mappe Mundi has been displayed for all to see in the window of a gallery near his home in Nailsworth.
Adam, who teaches leather work at Ruskin Mill College, said: “The last thing I want to do is to hide the piece away. I want people to enjoy it.”
Enjoy it or not, you cannot ignore Adam’s creations.
© Mark Clifford / Barcroft Media
He also made a handbag from a deer killed on the roads near where he lives and has just turned the skin of a trout into a leather sculpture.
“People call me all the time telling me about dead animals,” said Adam. “But there are so many around, if I collected them all my house would just be full of them.
“Instead I look at what condition the hide is in and whether it is beautiful or not.”
© Mark Clifford / Barcroft Media
Adam often cooks and makes a meal from the roadkill but did not eat the ducklings because they were too small.
The ducklings were found by a friend who took them to Adam to begin working on them. After skinning the animals he treated them, stitched the birds together, and hung them in a frame.
“Duckings are beautiful, a thing of innocence,” he said. “They have just been left on the road because so many cars have passed them by and ignored them. We have become alienated from the natural world we live in.
“We don’t stop and pick them up because of all the pressures of our daily life.
“If we hit an animal in the road then yes, we feel bad but not many people stop and see the aftermath of what we have done.”
© Mark Clifford / Barcroft Media
The duckling piece is called Mappe Mundi after the 11th century map of the world.
Adam said: “I called it that because it is about natural resources, and things we live with, but do not take care of.
“Ducklings are so innocent, they are just like the rest of us, fragile and pure. Like children before they can be corrupted.”
Adam, who has made more than 30 pieces from roadkill, lives his partner, Imogen Harvey-Lewis, 39, also an artist.
They have three children, Kit, 14, Jake, 10 and Ayesha, eight.
© Mark Clifford / Barcroft Media
Prices of his artworks start at a few thousand pounds and he has sold several pieces for £50,000.
He insists there will be an art collector out there willing to pay £1m for his star creation.
“I’ve had the image of the Mappe Mundi my head for many years since I was very young,” he said.
“When I saw the ducklings I realised I finally had the right material to create the work. In a way it’s a lifetime’s work.”
© Mark Clifford / Barcroft Media
It costs nothing to create any of the pieces – but the work is painstaking and it takes him around six months to complete one artwork.
All the materials, including the frames, are crafted from recycled materials.
He “treats” the roadkill with oil from the animals brain.
This is extremely rich and he is following an ancient method which makes the carcass hardwearing and strong.
Words by Jack Fletcher
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