*This post contains images that may be disturbing to some readers but they are cool, so read at your own risk!*
By a show of hands, who knew that morticianing [probably a word] was a surgical practice? Great. Next question: Who knew that it was an art? Not many hands, excellent. [I really can’t see your hands but thank you for participating.]
So tidbits of this survey are: 1) Embalming is surgery of sorts 2) Morticianing [not sure if it’s really a word] is an artform 3) Both of those things together make us plastic surgeons of death.
People can die in so many ways. I would love to say that most deaths are easy on the body and the decedent (dead person) just looks like a sleeping angel, but reality is that no one is beautiful dead. Picture this: eyes somewhere between open and closed lacking the gleam we are used to, mouth hanging wide open with or without the purge of internal contents, and hands clenched into somewhat of a fist. Really though, this is best case scenario for restoration of the body. But imagine if you will, someone with a gun shot wound to the face or some sort of blunt force trauma. How do those situations make someone look? Simple answer is that this person will probably be very unrecognizable. So we, as morticians (or future morticians), step in for some restoration so that if the family chooses to have an open casket visitation, their loved one will look as they were in life.
This part of morticianing [ok it’s definitely not a word] is called restorative arts. This is easily one of the hardest courses I have been a part of to date. But this isn’t just a course, it is part of the career. From simply setting the features (closing the eyes and mouth), shaving, and cosmetizing to facial reconstruction, a mortician will work diligently to please the family. Sometimes it fails, but putting forth our best effort is all we can do.
So how is it done? Well it just depends on the damage to the tissue we are working with. Most of the time it is wax that is molded and cosmetized to look like skin! I enjoy challenging myself, so I have a lot of fun trying to make the wax look realistic. Here are some images of what I’ve worked on:
Please don’t judge my generic ears. They are all really uniform and don’t resemble a model’s. I am really proud of my noses though. I’ve spent loads of time on them and I am still trying to perfect them.
So this is where I am starting in my career. As time goes on I will get better. For some more visual of some restorative art work here are a few more examples:
Aren’t they beautiful?! The amount of care and time that someone put into these remains is just inspiring. Note: These photos do not belong to me. I found them through a Google search.
So the next time you are at a funeral, before judging that the person looks bad or, like you know, dead, just remember that the mortician put a lot of hard work into making this post-mortem plastic surgery successful. After all, morticianing [last time I promise!] is an artform and the human body is the canvas.
Until next time, stay intrigued by death, my friends.
TC – Death Writer
The Undertakers Apprentice 