gouache; 20×16″
“I have a large array of different pets and that’s one of the reasons that I chose animal testing for my social justice piece it breaks my heart that thousands are used to be tested on. I have pet rats and mice and how that over 90% of all animal testing in put on rats and mice, this connected myself to this project. I used gouache for my piece, I used symbolism in my piece in multiple ways, by using rats as a tester for our medication I made it so the rat was floating and being healed by the rat being there like a medication would, this being shown by the red coming from the outline of the person. Inside of the rat is a glowing green heart in a bottle, the symbolism that this represents is how our experiments have a grasp over the animal entirely. If companies are so worried about covering up the harm that they are putting on all these animals, then it’s something they shouldn’t be doing at all. I feel the pain of these being put through tests that will lead to death or being born to die.”
ARTIST BIO: Katie Haas is a grade 11 student at Butler Tech School of Art studying art under art teacher Mary Catherine Ruby.