Holly Cowling

I have chosen to focus my project on the mistreatment of animals but specifically circus animals and elephants. I have researched the narrative of "Murderous Mary", a circus elephant that was given a human punishment (being hung from a crane) as a result of her attacking a trainer that was abusing her. My final piece represents the emotions behind Mary as she was taken from the wild and forced into captivity, I have produced this work as a statement of rebellion against the circuses that continue to use animals in their shows today.

 Shakira Yunus

From researching elephants I began to develop the theme around circuses and how they exploit these gigantic mammals. I started with drawing the elephant form and experimented with different materials to expose textures. Looking at footage captured both undercover and by the audience, I mapped out the stunts they are expected to successfully complete under the torturing conditions. Below is my final which is on a series focused on stunts performed during circus performances. Charcoal allows me a lot of expressive freedom and control where necessary as I want to evoke emotions from the viewer. This combination is what I explore throughout my sketchbook as I planned to capture the disturbing circus life through tactical imagery and shading.