Artist Statement

 

          Throughout my life I have loved and bonded with animals but during my studies for my BFA I have become more

 

aware with the ways in which we as a species relate to and treat the vast majority of them.  I have specifically become

 

passionate about the abuse of other beings that affect our way of life here in the Okanagan, for example, our food, our

 

companion animals, our wildlife and our entertainment in the form of zoos. Because I am an artist and because the

 

visual image has a powerful and persuasive impact I choose to create art that expresses a less anthropocentric

 

relationship with our fellow earthlings.

 

           Although I have worked primarily in graphite, acrylic and watercolor, I like to experiment with mixing media on

 

both paper and canvas, creating large, impactful images.  Drawings of birds and other animals are rendered carefully

 

but with less attention to physical accuracy and more to what works visually. The color palette with which I prefer to

 

work is reduced to the primaries, black and white in order to heighten the effect of high contrast.

 

 

Dianne Schnieders