Mae and Boo in Mae's room

Everything Mae owns is on display.

Her favourite things gather quietly around her: a shrimp tank, plants and insect frames she has made herself. The latest addition is a dead squirrel, a gift from her sister. Boo the cat drifts through the room like a small dog, indifferent to the bones but intensely interested in the taxidermist’s pheasant.

When I ask Mae if she is studying art at university, she shakes her head.
“I’m studying biology,” she says. “For me, nature is art in itself.”