A Statement of Witness to Extinction

This unisex tee confronts the brutal reality of wildlife poaching, a global system of violence driven by greed, status, and profit, in which ancient, sentient beings are reduced to commodities and pushed towards extinction.

Across Africa and beyond, rhinos are slaughtered for their horns, elephants for ivory, hippos for their teeth, and countless other species for bushmeat and illegal trade. Many are shot, snared, or mutilated while still alive, left to bleed out once the “valuable” parts are taken. Calves are frequently abandoned beside their mothers’ bodies, condemned to starvation, trauma, or further exploitation.

Poaching is not an act of survival. It is the most extreme expression of a worldview that treats non-human animals as resources rather than lives, a system in which existence is measured only by market value, and disappearance is absorbed as acceptable loss.

The Image: A Moment Between Life and Erasure

The artwork depicts a wounded rhino collapsed against the earth, its immense body rendered powerless, its injury raw and undeniable. Blood stains the ground beneath its head, not as shock, but as evidence. The animal’s stillness is not peaceful; it is the silence that follows violence once witnesses have gone.

The absence of hunters from the scene is deliberate. Responsibility is shifted away from the individual act and placed firmly on the wider system that enables, rewards, and sustains this brutality. The rhino is shown alone, not as a symbol, but as a living being abandoned at the moment where suffering becomes invisible to the world that caused it.

Set against a natural landscape, the image emphasises the contrast between the life this animal belonged to and the harm imposed upon it, reminding us that extinction does not arrive suddenly, but unfolds quietly, body by body.

A Reckoning in Words

“Pain echoes throughout creation as we slaughter its ancient creatures for greed and status.”

This declaration names a shared responsibility for that pain. Creation itself is positioned as the witness and the mourner to the loss of its own beings at human hands. The devastation does not end with the animal killed; it radiates outward through destabilised ecosystems, erased futures, and moral boundaries repeatedly crossed.

It rejects narratives of tradition, entitlement, and luxury that attempt to justify destruction through distance or demand. Extinction is named not as an unfortunate by-product of progress, but as a decision repeatedly made and repeatedly defended.

Each piece stands as A Declaration of Freedom for All Beings, bearing witness to irreversible harm and refusing to accept annihilation as an acceptable outcome of human desire.

Colours Used & Their Significance

This Colour Edition design uses a restrained yet confronting palette drawn directly from the natural world and the reality of violence imposed upon it.

Earth-toned yellows and warm ochres ground the image in the rhino’s environment, reflecting the land to which this animal belongs. Muted greens and soft blues reference life, continuity, and ecosystems now under threat. In stark contrast, the deep red of the wound disrupts the harmony of the scene, an intentional intrusion that cannot be ignored.

These colours are not decorative. They exist to create tension between life and violation, belonging and removal, reinforcing that what has been taken cannot be restored through justification or distance.

Wear Your Values

This is a refusal to remain silent in the face of erasure.
A stand against systems that convert life into trophies and profit.
A declaration that extinction is neither inevitable nor excusable.

Wear your values in defence of protection over possession, accountability over entitlement, and the right of all beings to exist beyond exploitation.

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