skin on skin 2

Title: _I1V3 #3
Size: 121.9 x 106.5cm
Medium: Oil on Board with mixed media

Seeing through what lies
And what lies
Beneath what I’ve become
Prey to life
Of nature undone
Our greatness
Their weakness
Is skin.



The process

I came across an article on an endangered species of vultures being at further risk due to the feeding of tainted cow carcasses. I have always assumed that vultures had an immune system which granted them a resistance to diseases. The cows were previously treated with a variety of drugs and chemicals. It was to me, a sign of degeneration, it could also be a sign of humanity’s invulnerability – we could kill everything that had a life, we could kill them unintentionally. We could kill effortlessly.

Yet, we all die in the end.

I was intrigued by this mortality game. We live at the expense of others. Nature has given all living beings interdependence, a give and take. Everything dies to make way for new life. It began with survival, us humans, with an unmatched intellect, decided we were not going to go down without a fight. We developed ways and means of prolonging life, we killed everything from bacteria to trees to other human beings. We built cities, shelters and used fire. Then we needed comfort. Somewhere along the way, comfort became part of survival. First was pleasure of meat in our mouth, fur keeping us warm, and then came the pleasure of the hunt, the exciting violence. Being the greatest merchants of death on this planet still does not spare us the fear of it.

I was intrigued by this mortality game indeed. Killing has become a norm, a norm crucial for our survival; I admit my dependence on sashimi. For a lot of us, poultry, red meat, leather jackets, even gummy sweets and pen ink… these things have an animal origin. Even if one takes only vegetables, to cultivate a rice field it is estimated that at least a thousand lives of different beings are taken per crop yield.

Mark Dion, postmodernist artist commented through his work that the only endangered animals are essentially Winnie the Pooh, Pink Panther, Mickey Mouse etc…

I lost my love of animals before puberty. I had an emotional attachment to the meek animals, deer, rabbits, squirrels etc… and I hated when they were hunted by the carnivores and humans. I later became resigned to the fact that they had to die anyway. I felt helplessness for them. Sometimes I wonder if it is really that big a deal if an animal race dies out, rather let the 200 left die then cultivate them to a population of 3000 and kill 200 animals annually. It seems we’re only keeping them alive for selfish reasons. I read a headline that said “Gray wolves may be hunted again.”

I focused my attention on an endangered subspecies of the Sika deer, their numbers have raised thanks to conservationists. I have this feeling that when the time comes, they will soon be targets for hunting season once more. It is not just the farm animals that are born to die; it seems that we have extended our control over ever species we discover. Can we not just leave them alone?

I aimed to link the Sika deer, the Californian condor (a scavenger) and the human in my work. Together they made a vicious cycle. They represented a sub category of nature – human nature. At one point I had planned to illustrate a product for hunters, I would call it the Hunt Cube. When the technology is sufficient, one day a Hunt Cube will be designed, it would consist of a head of a majestic deer stuck onto a box made of meat packed nicely, also, condor and human genes would be carefully interwoven in the product. They would be placed around forests and national parks for hunters. It would be easy to shoot since it was a cube and had a total leg count of 0, hence you did not have to stalk it or chase it. When shot, it explodes in the most violent display of blood and gore (newer models would allow one to tweak the gore settings). The majestic deer head will then pop off, saving the time and energy needed to send it for stuffing. The carcass will moan and groan just like a human would (you could probably calibrate the voice to anyone you would like to hear scream) thus fulfilling the role of being violent entertainment. Also, for those who advocate hunting as a family experience and encourage their children to join in the killing, animal innards and parts will fly, they are of course labeled with descriptions for educational purposes; many have described hunting as educational. Finally, whatever is left behind will be cleared by the condors which emerge from the mess; they essentially eat themselves up and excrete a new Hunt Cube, ready to be shot again.

Illustrating that would be too direct. That evolved while the concept of a vicious cycle remained and what emerged as my final product was vastly different.