I Create Art To Question The Relationship Between Human Beings And Animals (30 New Pics)

I use my intricate drawings to question the relationship between human beings and animals. Humans feel an intense connection to animals, both in the deep bonds we can develop with specific animals and through their symbolic and mythological importance in human cultures.

However, animals are in some ways utterly alien to us. They don’t think exactly the way we do, and projecting human thoughts and feelings onto them risks fundamental misunderstanding and a lack of true connection. There’s something important and magical about trying to understand a being whose experience of the world is completely different from our own.

By doing animal drawings with distinctive personalities that seem to speak to us, but breaking their forms up into geometric patterns, my drawing ideas explore the tension between the deep kinship we share with these beautiful animals and the sense of awe and wonder we feel from their difference.

If you like these drawings, check out my previous article on CNN News by clicking here.

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Red Panda

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I recently moved from Brooklyn to Queens. There’s a crow living outside my new apartment and I’m trying to befriend him. It’s my life’s ambition to have a crow friend who brings me twigs and bits of ribbon.

I love drawing animals because I learn so much about them. It’s introduced me to animals I didn’t even know existed, like okapis, but also taught me to appreciate the little details of animals I see all the time, like pigeons (or my own dog, who is usually within about three feet of me). Drawing something really forces you to look closely at it.

Norse Wolf

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Ocelot

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I actually majored in Creative Writing, got into visual art via graphic novels, and it kind of blossomed from there. It was always a hobby until my mom asked for one of my pictures to hang up in her office, and the woman in the framing shop suggested I try selling prints of my work online.

Celtic Raven

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Chipmunk

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The part of the creative process I enjoy the most is filling in the patterns. I find it really relaxing and meditative. My biggest challenge is scale. I really have to work not to default to teeny little details that only look good if your face is two inches from the page. I’ll actually put my smallest pen on the other side of the room so I’ll have to ask myself if I really need to be using a 0.15-millimeter pen right now.