Where the Wild Things Are Stuffed

In the west end of Toronto, artist Morgan Mavis runs the Contemporary Zoological Conservatory along with her partner Christopher Bennell. She's the director, and he's the conservationist, and together the two have created a space full of taxidermied bears, deer eagle, and a wallaby head. The conservatory is part of an ongoing conceptual art project Mavis has been creating since graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2004, and has turned her rented apartment into a curated art gallery/home.

Morgan spoke with Rented Spaces about the genesis for the conservatory, her collecting habits, and the particular struggles of living in an art tableau.