Acrylic on Paper; 25 in. by 20 in.

What if animals took over the everyday roles in our lives? Would humankind need to necessarily devolve or could there be coexistence? Would there be conflict? In these first five oil-on- canvas works from a larger set, I explore stories with creatures in our place. A few elements animate this series: 1) a deliberate reverse anthropomorphism that privileges creatures as uncommon subjects and 2) a reinterpretation of well-known visual stories with nothing less than a serious tone that in effect, turns the real into the surreal.

In this recreation of Bellows’s “The Art of Boxing,” Tiger challenges man in a match visible to spectators. Metaphorically, this scene could be read as inner struggle between man’s human qualities and creature tendencies. The lights, action, and staging around a boxing ring may represent nothing less than the contentious political climate, a spectacle-making media, polarized proclamations from groups, and a national reconsideration of what civil discourse is itself.