Pyschopomps

My current art project revolves around the afterlife and as usual you end up finding out about stuff you could probably have done without - one is the idea of psychopomps which are guides of souls to the afterlife - psychopomps have been associated at different times and in different cultures with whip-poor-wills, ravens, dogs, crows, owls, sparrows, cuckoos, and yamatoots.

So before you know it, you are googling whip-poor-wills - a medium-sized (22–27 cm) nightjar from North and Central America ...

It's called a whip-poor-will after its birdcall.

There's an excellent exhibition at the moment in London by the artist and taxidermist, Polly Morgan, based on the idea of psychopomps - http://pollymorgan.co.uk/

I also really like her wackier pieces ...

Robin: "Holy tartars!"

Batman: "Unholy tartars, Robin. Stealing scimitars and golden eggs from a museum is one thing. But when the average citizen on the street is in peril, something must be done, and quickly.