ABOUT THE ARTIST

 Hi, I’m Shelly Strickland, the artist behind Atropos Mediaworks. I create artwork using materials that have been set aside, overlooked, or no longer fit where they originally came from—and turn them into tiny worlds that tell a different story, with taxidermy mice as the actors.

Not sure how you ended up here, but since you are, there’s a good chance something about my artwork already speaks to you.

Things are a little strange here on purpose. Most of the people who find their way here prefer it that way. My art doesn’t really belong to a single category, and I don’t try to force it into one. It tends to find the people it resonates with on its own.

 I’m a licensed taxidermist and a member of the National Taxidermists Association, because I care deeply about the craft and the respect behind it. That foundation shapes everything I create.

Mice, for me, are the perfect storytelling scale. They can be heroes, villains, dreamers, or monsters depending on the world they’re placed in - small enough to hold a full narrative in a single glance.

Horror has been part of my imagination for as long as I can remember. It shows up in my work alongside humor, curiosity, and a love for the slightly uncanny - stories that feel familiar, but just a little off.

And then there’s the materials. Discarded objects, forgotten pieces, and repurposed “trash” become props, environments, and details in the tiny worlds I create. What others overlook often becomes the foundation of the scene.

At in-person events, it happens every time: people slow down, lean in, and then without expecting it, they smile. Sometimes it turns into laughter, sometimes surprise, sometimes both of these at the same time. And almost always, someone asks: “Are they real mice?" 

I understand why they ask and usually end up laughing too.

If someone had told me this would become my life’s calling, I would've thought they were joking. And yet here we are.

The artwork I create is strange, whimsical, unexpected, a little macabre, and beautiful in its own way - much like the people who are drawn to it.

Welcome to Atropos Mediaworks - where tiny worlds always seem to find the people they were made for.