Vlees Bewust

"I want to shoot a hare"

This thought came to me on an ordinary weekday, just like any other. And it was more than a mere impulse—I felt a genuine desire to personally prepare an animal into meat.
The sincerity of my wish surprised me. I had not eaten meat for years and have always loved animals. So why did I want to shoot, skin, prepare, and eat a hare? It was this question that sparked my research on the essence of eating meat.

In my work, I try to understand the juxtaposition of the pleasure of eating meat and the bloody reality that lies behind it. Most of the meat we consume comes in plastic packaging or is served to us ready-made. We may know, in broad strokes, how it is produced—but we prefer to turn a blind eye. Rarely do we allow ourselves to dirty our own hands in the process.

From hare to tapestry

As part of my research, I wanted to experience the full process from animal to meat.

Shooting the animal myself proved impossible to achieve legally within a year. Even acquiring a whole hare was no longer straightforward. Together with a chef, I went to a wholesale supplier for game meat. Through a contact, he was able to arrange two hares for me. In his workshop, he showed me how to skin one of the hares, after which I skinned the second one myself. In the kitchen, we finished the process by removing the organs and cutting the edible meat from the body. I went home with four pieces of hare back, and six front and hind legs.
A month later, I cooked the backs and had a meal of creamy mashed potatoes, caramelized carrots, and the earlier prepared hare steak.

As a maker, I enjoy working with textile materials, which is why I translated my research into a tapestry. In doing so, I hope to encourage viewers to reflect on their own relationship with eating meat.

Vlees Bewust is an ongoing project, and the hare is its first expression in a series of tapestries exploring unconventional meats.