VISITORS to Bolton Museum and Art Gallery are coming face to face with the wild and wonderful world of animals.

The venue's latest exhibition is creating a little animal magic as artist Nicholas Pace looks at natural history collections to explore society's complex and often uneasy relationship with animals.

He highlights humans' obsession with the animal world and the way in which animals are viewed through more artificial means -- zoos, museums, dioramas and old picture books.

His exhibition, "Unnatural Habitat", runs until February 22, and the work on show is a result of Pace's investigation into the archives of some of the best natural history collections in the country.

He said: "My fascination with animals began in childhood as I was growing up in Australia. As I got older I became interested in how humans ordered and categorised the natural world, and then recorded it in books."

As a result, Pace's paintings, drawings and photography are not drawn or captured from sightings in the wild. His work is taken in the main from dioramas -- a form of display still popular in America, but disappearing in this country.

He said: "The work represents the complexity of nature and our attempts to put an order on things. There is no message to be drawn.

"I hope the exhibition simply makes people think a little more about the often bizarre way in which we view animals."

The exhibition is complemented by a selection of displays from the museum's collection, including original specimen cases, mounted trophy skulls and plant models.

Patricia Francis, Keeper of Botany, said: "This exhibition has presented an opportunity to show some unique items from the collections which have not previously been displayed."