Tell us about your own vegan journey.
I transitioned from a vegetarian to vegan the same time I got hired in a meat and cheese department of a food coop. It was there that I saw the dark underbelly of the ‘humane’ hoax and sugar-coating of ‘local’, ‘organic’ and ‘free-range’ animal agriculture. I started doing research — diving into documentaries, into medical and scientific articles, of questioning my hand in all this unnecessary suffering. I grew up feeling very voiceless, so advocating for helpless animals felt cathartic. There’s so much unnecessary suffering in the world, and becoming vegan was one easy and accessible choice I could make. I transferred departments at the food co-op and eventually started working in the produce department. It was during that healthy transition I started my ‘Animal Activist Artwork’ series as a way to process my discoveries and as a form of activism. Art is a safe place for viewers to digest a contentious issue in the safety of their own heads. This series has encouraged a lot of inner and outer dialogue. Art can prompt new ways of looking at an issue. Sometimes it can burn an image into the viewer’s mind, planting a seed, helping people reflect on our relationship with animals.