
Kaylin Gauthier | Turning Nature’s Strangest Things into Something Beautiful
From Sunken Press by Sunken Press
February 14, 2026 · 1h 15m · Season 2 · Episode 11
About this episode
Kaylin Gauthier discusses her artistic process and the community surrounding oddities art in Southern Illinois.
Barber, artist, and bug lady Kaylin Gauthier (River City Oddities) joins us to talk about how she builds her intricate dioramas using ethical insect sourcing, antique glass, and locally foraged materials. She’s also a barber at Anderson’s Classic Barbershop in Alton, which somehow leads to stories about a monkey’s haircut and why exotic animals should absolutely not be in salons. We also get into the founding of Bluff City Bazaar, remembrance jewelry, mushroom foraging, driftwood baking, and the strange and supportive world of oddities artists. Also, Cory eats dog ashes. This one goes everywhere, but at its core, it’s about creativity, community, and carving out space for weird art in Southern Illinois. Find Kaylin’s work at Bluff City Bazaar (Alton), Grafton Art Gallery, Grumpy Grizzly (Grafton), Mother Murphy’s (Normal, IL), It’s Raining Zen (Alton), and lots of pop-ups at vendor markets. Click here for the full version on YouTube. --- For more information: https://www.facebook.com/river.city.oddities https://www.instagram.com/river.city.oddities https://www.andersonsclassicbarbershop.com https://www.instagram.com/andersonsclassic https://www.facebook.com/andersonsclassicalton…
People in this episode
Guest: Kaylin Gauthier
Topics covered
- dioramas
- ethical insect sourcing
- community
- creativity
- oddities art
- mushroom foraging
Keywords
- barber
- Bluff City Bazaar
- remembrance jewelry
- driftwood baking
Mentioned in this episode
Products: antique glass, locally foraged materials
Books & works: Turning Nature’s Strangest Things
Places: Alton, Southern Illinois, Grafton, Normal, IL
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