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Mind Over Meat

Published: May 21, 2016

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animal black blood bull butchered canvas cow culture dark drain draw ethics farm hindu india light marigolds meat milk morals paint slaughter vegan veganism vegetarien art bonnieleeman

Description

A few ideas that inspired the painting:
A lot of cattle slaughter involves the slitting of the animals throat and he/she being hanged to allow the blood to drain. Whether they are stunned beforehand depends on religious custom and whether the stunning is done 'properly' depends on the person the animal spends it's last waking moments with.

The marigolds on the floor are representative of the Sacred cows in Hinduism who have the flowers decorated around their neck. Conversely some people believe Marigolds symbolize cruelty and grief.

The cow looks like the traditional black and white patterned cow a lot of westerners are used to seeing, whether in advertisements for meat and dairy as a cartoon 'happy' cows or in children's books with other farm animals when it seems we are briefly taught to care for them.

For me this whole project was an exploration of what the meat industry is (without needing to go out of my way looking into cases of cruelty or neglect), and how it advertises itself. There is not many subjects you can address where most of the viewers have direct implications, like in the case of eating meat, so therefore it was challenging creating work that would inspire genuine sympathy for animals that people have been conditioned to treat with nothing but apathy.

Oils, acrylics and glass on canvas

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