Lance Proctor | Embalmer / Death Mask Creator

With a rumbling and subsequent flash I awoken to see my grandmother, 'Little Nana' as we called her standing above me. The room was unlit, the window just by us with more rumbling taking place. Flash! Nana’s standing looking directly at me, her dress is a purple-based floral, true attire of the time, finest of polyester. Clear in my mind to this day I write, I’m so comforted, I can hear the heavy rain now, I’m content. Love you Little Nana.

My name is Lance, that’s my earliest memory, I have total recall because it means so much to me. The most influential person in my life was making sure I wasn’t frightened and I wasn’t, may have been an infant but totally chill. Speaking of chill, I accepted death in general a long time ago and have been comfortable with mortality. I do however fear sudden traumatic death, personally I’d prefer a terminal illness so I have time to plan. I want everything in order and work out who gets what of my lifetime of collecting vintage furniture and oddities. Not to mention just embracing the dying thing, I can hear myself already, “no I’m not washing those dishes, how could you ask such a thing, I’m dying!”, while I crank out my latest Lego set. Haha, I intend to milk it.

I’m a Necro Stylist, a self-appointed title for my profession in embalming. As an embalmer, I dedicate my life to caring for the dead. I support the Funeral Industry and also work in the University sector anatomically embalming humans and animals alike for teaching.

My personal journey of fascination towards death commenced when I was very young, I was growing up on a property in Bathurst where my parents were running a hobby farm. I was exposed to all kinds of death and gore, I would hang out with my father while processing sheep and cattle for consumption, this was normal to me and I would even get a knife and puncture the poo bag for fun! I was four years old and had an indifference towards death, I had no concept of the sanctity of life so it was all very normal to me. I guess I was potentially borderline in my development, either to become unhinged almost sadistic or nurture my morbid curiosity into something positive, thankfully events would assist the outcome.

Then one day I came home with my sister, we were playing in the yard and I entered the house for whatever reason and I overheard my mother on the phone. Grandad is dead.  I was completely shocked, I felt the adrenaline of terror. I ran out to my sister in tears, “Grandad is dead” I cried. I finally understood the power of grief, the understanding of loss.

As the years passed I developed more of a fascination with death and the macabre, my drawings always featured death and horror. I couldn’t even decorate a cake with Little Nana without something spooky featured, death scenes in icing and sultanas. I learned of the profound connection with death of the ancient Egyptian civilisation and of embalming. At thirteen I learned that embalming was still being conducted within the Funeral industry, this information was life changing to me, I could pursue the career I wanted and dedicated myself to that purpose, I became qualified as an embalmer at 21.

Working with the dead is so peaceful and spiritual, it is with great honour that I give final care as I wash, set the features of the face, embalm if required then move on to dressing, cosmetics, hair and finally placing in the coffin. I have done this process thousands of times over my 28 years as an embalmer but that wasn’t enough, I needed to offer more and began to research the art of death masking.

Death Masks are so powerful, to capture a person’s face serene in death and presented as a casted sculpture is incredible. I have promoted and preformed this unique service for many years and have death masks of my best friend Tina who died in 2011 and my Father Brian who died last year in 2022.

It feels like they never actually left me, they are always present and I find great comfort in that, in-fact all my immediate family shall be masked eventually, my sister Joanne, my mother Mary and of course myself. Once we have all transitioned to our new sculptural immortality as a family I want them donated to a museum for people to behold. Great huh!

I’m not done for now but I’m done with my letter, just wanted to say in respect. “Thank you death, you have given my life such purpose”.

—Lance Proctor (2023)

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