Safari - Volodymyr Pielikh
“I’ve always wondered what life would be like if our roles at the top of the food chain were different and humans were at the bottom, so I decided to create an environment where all animals take the top of the pyramid and humans to live in the wild at the bottom,” explains Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Pielikh.
The artwork works to shed light on the illegal wildlife trade. “To have a stuffed animal head on the wall of someone’s home never sat right with me,” he adds. “I wanted to draw the animals altogether and with human-like bodies and attitudes so that people would realise that we are all equal.”
“All life is valuable and should be respected equally. Every wild animal only takes what is needed for survival, not more, not less. We must do the same. Being the smartest species means we have a greater responsibility to do what is for the greater good and we must use it to protect even the weakest; not over-consume or hunt them to extinction.”