Serena Sprinkle: capstone

Abstract

The artist's statement: My work exists at the intersection of empathy, science, and responsibility. As a graphic designer and sculptor working in mixed media, I use both physical and visual language to confront how animals are treated within systems of research, consumption, and innovation. Over the past several years, my focus has centered on animal rights and conservation. I take interest in the moral issues- how easily living beings are reduced to data, test results, or commodities, and how art should interrupt that detachment. Material plays a critical role in my practice. In one body of work, I sculpted laboratory mice entirely from thousands of individually crafted pills, turning symbols of treatment into instruments of harm. In another, I created a dual narrative sculpture of a rabbit and her young: on one side, the intimacy of nursing and care, and on the other, the visible toll of testing through wounds, bandages, and physical deterioration. These contrasts are intentional. I want viewers to confront the emotional dissonance between what animals are to us in nature and what they become under human systems of control. My graphic design work extends these ideas into more informational and narrative-driven formats. Through brochures and editorial layouts, I explore emerging practices such as the use of pigs in organ donation, presenting both the scientific promise and the ethical cost. I also create animal forms composed entirely of zeros and ones, referencing the increasing tendency to quantify life. These pieces question what is lost when living beings are translated into data sets, and whether awareness alone is enough to shift behavior. Ultimately, my practice is rooted in a broader humanitarian concern. The way we treat animals reflects how we assign value, power, and empathy across all living systems, including our own. I do not aim to provide answers, but to create moments of discomfort, reflection, and recognition. Through sculpture and design, I ask viewers to reconsider their relationship to the subjects they often overlook, and to acknowledge that these lives are more than tools, more than statistics, and more than data.