Anthropomorphism and Ethical Dissonance
I do not paint people.
I paint animals wearing human expressions.
This is not decoration. It is not escape.
In my work, anthropomorphism is not a disguise but a method of exposure.
It unfolds through five essential insights.
1. Animals are innocent
Animals are not judged the way humans are.
When I project human emotion onto an animal's face, it often becomes more honest.
The tiger averts its gaze.
The rabbit forces a smile.
The pig hides its desire.
These faces carry emotions more human than the human face.
Their honesty is unsettling because it is unintentional.
What they express, they do not control. That is why it hurts.
2. I do not follow traditional symbolism
The twelve zodiac animals carry assigned meanings.
The dragon represents divinity.
The horse stands for freedom.
The dog symbolizes loyalty.
I dismantle these codes.
The pig, once a symbol of fortune, becomes a vessel of shame.
The dragon’s authority collapses into hollowness.
Symbolism gives way to emotional dissonance.
3. The animal is a masked actor
My animals perform human roles, but their performances are misaligned.
The horse refuses to run.
The snake speaks only through silence.
The rooster forgets time.
The ox abandons endurance.
In these distortions, a question surfaces.
What does it mean to be human?
2025,
from The Ambiguity
of the Perpetrator
Deconstruction
of Form
4. The animal’s face becomes a stage for emotion
I place fear in the eyes, sarcasm in the mouth, and resignation in the posture.
There are no spoken lines, yet they speak more than words.
These are not icons. They are emotional vessels.
The expression is never quite right. That tension is the point.
5. The viewer becomes implicated
To look at these faces is to face a mirror.
Is this me?
Or is this how others see me?
This moment shatters the silence hidden within the painting.
Anthropomorphism is not a style.
It is a mechanism that turns the gaze back on the viewer.
In one painting, a rabbit smiles beneath a golden sun — but its smile is clenched, almost pained.
The surface is peaceful. The feeling is not.
They do not speak, yet their silence accuses.
What begins as charm becomes confrontation.
What seems innocent becomes a structure of complicity.