PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

Many of these images are from my annual Cat Calendar projects and book of collages, 'Feline Felicities'. These are light-hearted collages of our own cat companions (that is Anthony's and mine).

The most recent of my cat collage projects is entitled 'Cat Dreams'. This body of work, though no one would guess it by looking, was born out of profound grief and loneliness, which moved into my life like a quiet, dark, slow-moving storm, after the passing of my mother, this past autumn. The 'Cat Dreams' series features the combining of both color and black-and-white elements in each compostion, bringing subtle tention to the pieces. In many of the collages, a somber, black-and-white, or muted, background is juxtaposed with colorful creatures or flowers.

The darker elements, can be interpreted, directly, as a reflectionof the grief around my personal loss, but also (at the forefront of mymind, in the wake of my mother’s death) the sobering realization that ALL living creatures will, not only suffer death themselves, but also (beforehand or in the process), lose everyone to whom they have formed an attachment. This reality is the canvas, so-to-speak, on which all of life is painted.

The colorful and playful elements are the infusion of my mother’s spirit. Though not a silly person, she did, indeed, have a silly and delightful sense of humor that flowed naturally from her, even in the most adverse of situations. I did not plan these collages, or begin withthe idea that they were, in any way, about my mother and/or the grief over her death. However, I found her spirit naturally flowed through me into my creations. She is so much a part of my being and consciousness, that her spirit bubbles through me, at times, like a natural spring.

Other themes and archetypes show themselves in these works: First, the transparent figures, which signify the dream state, and so too, the glow around certain figures. Sometimes it is the dreamer (the cat) who is illuminated, sometimes the subject of the dream who is illuminated. Arches play a prominent role, symbolizing passage through to another state, as do pathways leading toward the horizon. Butterflies also show up frequently, representing a flight-of-fancy, or departure from the ordinary.

These works are intended to be little poetries – works which (hopefully) resonate with the viewer, without interpretations, explanations or, indeed, any intellectual exercise at all – a direct communication from artist to viewer which bypasses language.