At its roots, The Right to Arm Bears depicts research on animal exploitation, endangered animals, speciesism, and the climate crisis. It expresses ethical concerns, as well as pays solemn devotion to the defenseless creatures that inhabit the earth. In my drawings, animals in their most feral and natural form are adorned with warrior attire as a chance to liberate and empower them. They represent symbolic drawings created out of humanity’s growing distance from the natural world.

Each animal is meticulously hand drawn in small scale using pen and ink in a stippling style. In a ritualistic sense, stippling allows me to meditate on every detail. My work evolves from a fictional place where nonhuman animals are not subject to mistreatment, and can instead defend themselves. My response addresses a world which seemingly favors greed and selfishness over compassion and empathy. In these visual fables, weapons and armory provide each animal needed protection against their vulnerability and fragility in current ecosystems. It illustrates an unwavering desire to protect other sentient beings. 

At their core, my illustrations are a story of hope, healing, and restoration. They stress ambitious exertion to restore humanity’s harmonious relationship with animals. As a species, humans are not the only ones in the global crisis, though humans need to initiate and resolve with empathy and concern. If nature is protected, it will reciprocate.