Emma Holland Digital Media and Design
︎ @ehollandart
Systemic Symbiosis
Digital Illustration, 2020
The subjects of my digitally illustrated posters draw visual and conceptual comparisons between the physical, emotional, and mental abuse inflicted upon both women and exotic animals. Both are victims of violent hierarchal systems like patriarchy and capitalism that harm their minds and bodies for the benefit of those with greater power. In each illustration, I use a different species as a symbol of a specific instance of violence.
I began by drawing tigers to illustrate how the illegal trapping and poaching of this species for their flesh is similar to the physical and sexual abuse of women, especially those of color. The inclusion of exotic birds, which are often victims of forced domestication against their natural instincts, references the cruelty experienced by many in the LGBTQ+ community when forced to assimilate to a heteronormative society. The orca represents the containment of intelligent animals in cramped, under-stimulating environments, similar to the containment of women, forced to choose between being full-time mothers or aspiring outside of their homes. In my final illustration a wild foal, symbol of the dangerous and unethical sterilization procedure forced upon wild mares in Oregon, is a reference to the countless women who have been forcibly sterilized.
