Nora Nikolic

John Curtin College of the Arts

Year 11

Lino print

54 x 30 cm

I am unnerved by the strange behaviour around domesticated animals we call ‘cute’. The vast difference between current cosmetic breeds of today, such as the bulldog or the poodle, and the wolf, the grandfather of all dogs, is especially shocking. Such distortions of the canine form have been shown to inhibit the health of the dog, such as the breathing problems caused by the pug’s minuscule nose, the near-guaranteed hip dysplasia of the German shepherd and the deformed jaws of the bulldog. These deformities are purposely bred into the dog through often-incestuous selective breeding in order to achieve unreasonable aesthetic standards.