Artist: Sarah Van Rose
Title: Guardian
Medium: Mixed media on wood panel
Size: 6.75x9 in. framed
Artist Statement: 
I created this piece with the fervency of the viscious wolf in the painting. I always find myself returning to the image of a snarling canine in my work. It satisfies a childhood obsession with the wolves in Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, which my parents let us rent from Blockbuster every weekend. The wolves in the film represent guardian spirits of Japanese folklore, and the canines in my work have come to represent an inner guardian. I return to this motif in times of struggle and lean into the best qualities of what canines in art represent: fidelity, companionship, and vicious protection. Painting this guardian is a reminder to defend my inner world and autonomy.