Room to Play

This painting is a part of my series with my cat, Oliver. These paintings explore connection, specifically the open vulnerability with which people can connect with their pets. How can we connect with other people in the same way?

This is a self-portrait, depicting me and my cat, who is curled around my arm ready to strike. I’m laying on my bed, distracted from my sketchbook in a joyful moment of play. Safe and happy, we’re enclosed in a dark but colorful bedroom.

My bedroom is my safe space; a haven, a fortress, and a sanctuary. Oliver is an elderly cat and only has a few teeth, rendering him completely harmless in attacks like this.

The room in the background is constructed like a dreamscape: instead of referencing a photo I pull images from my memory and build the room through perspective, light, and shadow.