UK-based artist Julia Lohmann, after several years of hard work, has mastered the art of transforming a sheep's stomach into a lamp shade.

Using sustainable design as an aspect of her work ethic, she says turning a sheep stomach into a lamp shade is fairly labor intensive.

First of all, the surplus meat has to be scraped off the stomach to make the honeycomb structure bare. This bare structure has to undergo a preservation process for one week. Once the organ has been preserved, a balloon is inserted into it to form a bulbous shape. This is left to dry for one week before it is transformed into a lamp shade.

Lohmann says people must think about the human relationship with animals and not just think of consuming them. She says, we breed animals and then they land up as meat on the dinning table.

She adds that she wants people to ask themselves why is a stomach disgusting? It does not make any logical sense that people wear the animal leather, eat the muscle of an animal and when it comes to the stomach, which is another part of the animal's body, it is discarded.

She says that when the viewers find out that this is a sheep's stomach “there is a moment of shock”.

“And I want them to ask themselves why is a stomach disgusting?” Lohmann asked.

The light emitting stomachs will be on display at Libby Seller's Beau Savage exhibition at London department store Liberty from 19th September until 19th October, she says.

In 2004, Lohmann made around 30 hand-sculpted sofas entitled “Cow benches”. Each bench was uniquely crafted using a cow's hide, showing their scars and brands.

Last year she created a sculpture called “Lasting Void”, using a calf's carcass for the mould creating a shell shaped structure. Now, Lohmann has turned her attention to discarded sheep stomachs, which she buys from her local butcher for five pounds, turns them into lamp shades, and sells them for 250 pounds.

FTP/PA