Polly Morgan on Taxidermy, Family & Letting Things Go

Much like her taxidermy-based sculptures, Polly Morgan is an artist who delights in looking beneath the surface. 

Her home in Camberwell is deliberately minimalist - a space viewers may recognise from Netflix’s Baby Reindeer. As she prepares to move out after 13 years, with most of her possessions already shipped off to the countryside, she reflects on the highs and lows of her time there. 

Growing up in the Cotswolds, Polly’s childhood was characterised by watching animals die and by seeing her father dissect bodies to understand anatomy. Those early experiences formed her way of seeing, not as something morbid, but as a curiosity about life and its endings.

Entirely self-taught, Polly has always worked slightly outside of artistic convention. She speaks about wanting to notice what most people overlook, to find the parts of things that are usually hidden.

It’s with this same outlook that she talks about the loss of her sister and mother, and the decision to say goodbye to her city life as she prepares to return to the countryside.

This is a conversation about artistic process, growing older, family, and learning what to hold on to and what to let go of.

This episode was recorded in person at Polly’s home in Camberwell.

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