Polly Morgan

WHO: The darling of the new Brit art scene whose English rose looks are completely at odds with her chosen medium: taxidermy. "It satisfied me in a way that nothing else I'd tried had – it's both sculpture and science," says 32-year-old Morgan, who showed her first pieces at hip east London restaurant Bistrotheque in 2004. "It helped that no-one else was doing it, so I felt more freedom to experiment." Banksy spotted her work (dubbing her "Britain's hottest bird-stuffer") and invited her to show at his temporary art fair Santa's Ghetto in 2005. The rest is history: Morgan has influenced a whole new generation of artists and taxidermy artworks can now be found in the hottest restaurants and hotels around the world. Today, her pieces can fetch up to £100,000.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Collected by everyone from Courtney Love and Kate Moss to Charles Saatchi and

Thomas Olbricht, who in 2009 paid £85,000 for "Departures", a bronze flying machine carried by 30 assorted birds, for his Me Collectors Room in Berlin. Quite a coup for the then little-known Morgan.

FUTURE PROJECTS: There will be a group show in Warsaw next year. Expect to see new materials including fiberglass, rubber and plaster used in her forthcoming work.

HER STYLE: Old hoodies and aprons at work are swapped for masculine