The Ginger Kitty wants me to sit on his knee

During the lockdowns inside, the domestic space became even more meaningful in my practice. Much like many others I became more conscious of my home and how it made me feel. The isolation and time inside gave me a chance to analyse and consider this interplay between objects and art. The cat chairs for me were a time to further explore my relationship between fantasy and reality. I wanted to highlight a mundane object we use day to day and link it to the fantastical escape, I was craving even more whilst enforced at home. Doing a lot of sitting and thinking in this time made me reconsider the humble chair as more than just an object, it became a support for me mentally and physically. I tend to use a lot of animals as symbolism within my practice but cats are very prominent. The cat for me is the embodiment of home and the domestic, I wanted to create something joyful and optimistic at this time, to be a nice escape and addition to the mundane. The cats I made over this time became a great comfort.

2021

wool and hessian on plastic chair

115.0 x 70.0 x 140.0 cm

IP2112

Text & images © Selby Hurst Inglefield
Portrait of Selby Hurst Inglefield by Clara Wicaksono