Animal instinct turns into art with a twist!

Loughrea artist Barbara Daniels was munching on cooked chicken when she came up with the idea for one of her artworks, Happy Farms.

It depicts an abattoir where the roles of chickens and humans have been reversed. In this upside-down world, chickens replace people and oversee the butchery of farmed humans in a slaughterhouse where they are processed for meat for sale to chickens in supermarkets.

“The whole thing started out with one idea: The happy farm. It was basically just one snapshot of chickens eating people. I was eating chicken at the time when I came up with it.

“I just thought what would it be like for chickens eating people and from there it just built,” recalled Barbara, who is from Drimkeary, a small little village, between Loughrea and Woodford.

“I like farm animals and all animals. But I do eat meat. Since doing the art, though, it has definitely opened my eyes to a lot of things. When I’m doing the art, I like to be very accurate about the ideas. I was astounded by the level in our lives, and in modern society, how we use animals in so many ways you would never have imagined.

“The painting Happy Farm shows each stage of the slaughterhouse process in grave detail and gives us a view into the cruel world of meat production.

“Reversing the roles allows us to experience the process in a unique way, as helpless living creatures being utilised by the dominant species in a modern society,” she said.

It was a simple idea that was carefully and expertly executed with craft into a full-colour painting.

The 34-year-old artist started Happy Farms when she moved to Berlin in 2013 and more than 18 months of dedication went into completing the piece, which gives an indication of the attention to detail.

See full story – and view Barbara’s art – in this week’s Connacht Tribune.