Lost Specimens from Neotropical Futures: Evolutionary Species of another Place and Time

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.24.2.2025.4162

Keywords:

Lost Specimens, neotropical futures, hybridized species, forest detritus art, environmental protest art, vegan taxidermy, evolutionary futures

Abstract

Anthropogenic pressures are impacting our planet with increasingly dramatic effect, especially here in the Tropics, where even the boundaries of the region itself are under threat. Evolutionary developments in all facets of life, from the physical and environmental to the digital and intellectual, unleash profound issues that affect us all. “Lost Specimens” is a result of my research and deep reflection on humans’ pervasive influence on all aspects of life, inspiring me to create hybridized species that are rooted in our planet but exist in parallel realities of an alternative space-time. The specimens presented in this paper come to us from a neotropics of the far future. Crafted from forest detritus, these meticulous artworks—a form of vegan taxidermy—are a satirical comment on the profound impact and environmental degradation our actions are having on biodiversity; so too are they intended to highlight the Age of Blur we currently find ourselves in, where once distinct binary distinctions such as true/false, analogue/digital, science/faith and now tropical/temperate are being provoked into redefinitions which reveal new interrelations.

Author Biography

Helen M. Mitchell, Independant Artist, Indonesia

Helen Mitchell graduated with a BA(Hons) from Nottingham University, UK, in 1992. Helen’s artistic vocation was put on hold for a career as a celebrity fashion stylist in America, whilst continuing to paint in her spare time. In 2006, she decided on a complete lifestyle change, becoming a semi-nomadic professional volunteer, thereby exploring other cultures, a choice that would forever change her view of the world. From working with exiled Tibetan refugees to teaching in schools and helping in animal shelters all over the globe, she eventually settled down to focus on ocean science and conservation, a sublime adventure into the weird and wonderful world of marine life that informs her current, and now full-time, artistic project: Lost Specimens.

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Published

2025-04-21

How to Cite

Mitchell, H. M. (2025). Lost Specimens from Neotropical Futures: Evolutionary Species of another Place and Time. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 24(2), 122–149. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.24.2.2025.4162

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 2 (2025): Tropical Futurisms: Making Futures

Section

Art Practice

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