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Originally hailing from New Zealand and now living in Melbourne, Julia deVille is a jeweler and taxidermist who has made a name for herself with work that combines traditional gold and silversmithing techniques with materials such as jet and taxidermied animals. As a vegetarian and animal rights advocate, deVille practices taxidermy
and jewelery design to celebrate life. Much of her work puts a modern
twist on the Memento Mori (Remember you must die) jewelery that became
fashionable in the post-plague Europe of the 1600s, and the jet
mourning jewelery which was popularised by Queen Victoria after the death of her consort in 1861.
This determination to face death without flinching extends far into deVille’s own life. She wears a tattoo of a ‘Memento Mori’ skull on her thumb (the ultimate symbol of human mortality), and has willed her body to Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds exhibition, where she herself will be preserved and put on display after her death.
Directed By Matt Hopper
Shot by Richard Hosking and Winfred K
Edited by Matt Hopper and Winfred K