As a figural painter who is interested in conveying the root causes of our abuse of the non-human world, I have found the body to be a powerful formal element to portray these often more elusive concepts. In my art, I use imagery with the human body in order to create an intimacy within an issue that is difficult for many to deeply empathize with. In this painting, I used the image of a figure severing the arterial connection to the flesh of which she is attached. The narrative I wanted to imply was that if this connection point to the web of veins, the web of life, was severed, it would be mutual destruction. Our bodies are our sensory connections to the earth, seeing as we are made of this universal flesh, yet we try to emotionally disconnect ourselves from our bodies and from the rest of the world. By using foreshortening of this active pose, I wanted to dramatize this moment and portray to the viewer the immediacy of the issue.

In this painting, I utilize the power of the gaze as well as the texture of flesh to add to my imagery and concept. The figure’s posture and ripping of skin originates from how our body might reflect our greed, both sickly and bloated. I chose the mask of a cow skull to also symbolize how we hide behind our greed, seeing as the word “capital” has roots in the word “cattle,” since wealth used to be determined by the head of cattle one owned. I used the gaze of the figure to invoke the empathy of the viewer, and to show that we must confront this weak part of humanity and can no longer hide from it. I also used imagery of meat as a way of expressing that the treatment of life outside of our bodies is reflected in our own and the way we treat our own life. 

Crude oil, as a sticky dark substance, was another form I used to embody greed. Besides it being one of the most environmentally destructive materials we relay on, I used crude oil, which drips from the human body onto an animal body, to show how this dark poison of greed and narcissism that runs within us, is lethal, to us and all other animals. I kept the anonymity of both the animal figure and the human figure to add to the unsettling feeling of the painting but also to show that the universality of this problem.

The interaction between human and pig figures has been a motif in some of my work. I’ve chosen pigs out of the many animals we exploit specifically because of how often we use them in our vernacular in a demeaning way, and of how human-like their skin is. In this painting, I was initially inspired by a piece of George Tooker’s called “Voice 1” in which two figures on opposite sides of the wall struggle to communicate. In my piece though, human figure resists and pushes the pig away on one side of a wall of skin, while the pig reaches out towards the human. I used the eye contact of the pig in order to draw the empathy toward the pig and understand it’s struggle. This image relates to how humans resist emotionally connecting with those we exploit and abuse, denying our own animal identity as well.

Another piece inspired by the texture of crude oil, I used this portrait as a way of showing how humans have become covered in this viscous dark oil, symbolizing both our excess and ignorance. Yet, we have the power to remove it and expose our core human morality underneath, thus able to regain our sight.

As I was reading about a god in the Aztec religion who flayed himself in order to save humanity, I identified with the symbolism of skin, not only as a sign of sacrifice, but also as an exterior wall of flesh that separates us from one another and has been used as an excuse for subjugation. Only when the human figure sheds his skin, is he able to come forward and join with the animal. I used the expressions and gestures of the figures in order to show their mutual reconciliation and healing. As a sign of rebirth, sacrifice, and of the perceived difference between individuals, skin and the removal of it, calls to the viewer to consider their own ability to sacrifice.