London’s art world has seen a lot of taxidermy pieces over the past year such as Polly Morgan’s Psychopomps show at the Haunch of Venison Gallery. Japanese artist Iori Tomita is taking the art form to a new level in his series 'Shinsekai [Toumei Hyouhon]' ('New World Transparent Specimens').

During his time as a fisherman, Tomita developed a way of dying aquatic animals while they are preserved. These specimens are kept in formaldehyde before being descaled and skinned. Then they are placed in a mixture of blue stain, ethyl alcohol, and glacial acetic acid to breakdown the muscle before being removed from this solution just as they become translucent. They are then quickly placed in some red dye and preserved in glycerin.

‘People may look at my specimens as an academic material, a piece of art, or even an entrance to philosophy,’ says Tomita. ‘There is no limitation to how you interpret their meaning. I hope you will find my work as a 'lens' to project 
a new image, a new world that you’ve never seen before.’

These works are as bizarre as they are beautiful and if Tomita marks a new wave of taxidermy art we look forward to seeing what’s next.