Permanent Record Podcast

Mike Olandese: The Strange and Unusual World of Arcanexus Designs In this episode of The Permanent Record Podcast , host Gerard Legagneur enters the strange and unusual world of artist Mike Olandese, the creative mind behind Arcanexus Designs. Mike transforms animal skulls, bones, vintage taxidermy, and other unusual objects into distinctive works of art. He shares how his fascination with the mac...

A purple deer with a dollhouse tucked inside its torso. A glowing bay window emerging from its neck. A spiral staircase leading to a dining table perched on its antlers. In Brooke Weston’s work, discarded taxidermy becomes the setting for intricate miniature worlds that invite you to look closer. In this episode of the Permanent Record Podcast, we sit down with the mixed media artist behind these...

Sabrina Hansen is a private natural history collector whose collection includes rare antique taxidermy, extinct species, Victorian dioramas, and museum-level specimens. In this episode of the Permanent Record Podcast, Gerard talks with Sabrina about her early life in Montreal, her training at the National Ballet School of Canada, her time studying and acting in New York, and the path that led her...

Tom Valvassori is a tattoo artist, lifelong maker, and taxidermy collector whose work is rooted in permanence, craft, and the stories people carry with them. In this episode of the Permanent Record Podcast, Gerard talks with Tom about learning to tattoo the old-school way, why he still draws by hand, the connection between tattooing and taxidermy, the strange art of collecting, and the unforgettab...

Doug Arbittier is an anesthesiologist, medical historian, and collector whose more than 3,000 antique medical and surgical artifacts reveal the strange, beautiful, and sometimes shocking history of medicine. In this episode of the Permanent Record Podcast, Gerard talks with Doug about bloodletting tools, Civil War surgery, President Lincoln's assassination artifacts, the $5 doctor’s chair tha...

Lauren Seeley is a death doula and a grief doula who draws her background in art to create personalized memorials and funeral services — honoring and celebrating the deceased while bringing comfort to the families left behind. In today's episode of the Permanent Record Podcast, Gerard sits down with Lauren to discuss her creative work in the death space, the death-related book clubs she'...

Kelly Brong is a graphic designer, animal lover, and taxidermist with a passion for giving vintage animal mounts a second life. In this episode of the Permanent Record Podcast, Gerard talks to Kelly about collecting and restoring vintage taxidermy, why she’s fed up with TikTok, and what it was really like to attend taxidermy school. To learn more about Kelly, please see our feature article about h...

Kyle Sherwood is a third-generation mortician and co-founder of Save My Ink Forever – a service that carefully preserves tattoos after death, transforming them into lasting pieces of art that honor loved ones. In this episode, Gerard and guest co-host Lucia Brawley talk with Kyle about his artistic process, his unique childhood growing up in a funeral home, and the challenges of working as a morti...

Artist and prosthetist Sophie de Oliveira Barata draws on her background in special effects to create striking works of wearable art that explore body modification, evolution, and transhumanism. In this episode, Gerard and guest co-host Lucia Brawley talk with Sophie about the technical craft behind making both hyper realistic and fantastical prosthetics, the influence of Alexander McQueen on her...

Kate Clark is a multimedia artist who uses taxidermy and sculpture to create a beautifully weird world — one full of hybrid creatures that don’t make us recoil, but instead, invite us to see ourselves reflected in the animal kingdom. Kate joins Gerard to discuss her creative process, pushing against taboo, and how one of her pieces ended up in a Kanye West video. 

The Permanent Record Podcast premieres on July 1st — Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.