Taste of Truth
porcelain, glaze, silver lustre30 x 28 x 3.5Exploiting the reproductive systems of animals is how you get your...
Bacon: Workers manually stimulate sows by rubbing their vulvas, triggering
arousal to mimic the natural behaviour of a boar. The worker then inserts a
catheter or insemination tube into the sow's vagina.
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Eggs: At parent farms, roosters and hens are selectively bred to produce the next generation of chickens. These parent birds lay fertile eggs that hatch into chicks.
In the egg industry, female chicks are raised to become egg-laying hens, while male chicks (who cannot lay eggs) are killed - macerated alive soon after hatching.
The laying hens’ reproductive systems have been manipulated to meet the demands of the egg industry, laying over 300 eggs each year - vastly more than their natural capacity of just 12–15 eggs annually. This relentless reproductive strain leaves their bodies depleted and “spent” by only 18 months of age, at which point it’s cheaper for f(h)armers to kill them than to “care” for them.
The constant egg laying causes severe health issues like egg yolk peritonitis and reproductive cancers; egg laying systematically destroys the health and lives of these birds, whether in factory farms or in your backyard.
This work is dedicated to all animals suffering in factory farms – sentient individuals subjected to unimaginable cruelty behind closed doors.On the back of the piece, I’ve inscribed “for Olivia.”
Olivia, formerly known only as sow 8416, was the victim of a horrific act of violence, captured on hidden camera by investigators from Farm Transparency Project. She was raped by a worker inside a piggery – footage that has led to ongoing court proceedings.
Yet in court, her pain is unspoken. She’s referred to only as “a pig.” Her name is not mentioned. Her whereabouts remain unknown.
Her story was the catalyst for this piece.
Because what happened to her should never be forgotten.
Because what happens to animals like her every single day should never be normalised.
Through this work, I honour Olivia – and all animals used, silenced, and discarded by industrial farming.
May this work not only help others see them but compel them to act.
Find your people. Find your voice. And fight like hell.