Cat Man

I am quite attached to cats; in fact, I absolutely adore them. Not just because they are cute, but because they are incredibly interesting creatures. Their relationship to humans is fascinating too—they domesticated themselves (unlike other animals such as sheep, cattle, etc. who were domesticated by us) to make their own lives easier. And their lives certainly did become easier, especially for cats in ancient Egypt who were worshipped like gods, as they still basically are today.

My painting, 'Cat Man' has obvious influences. Apart from the swirling lines of dots, which I think are reminiscent of Aboriginal art, the style is heavily ancient Egyptian. It's not completely side profile but that's simply because I wanted to show both his eyes. On his clothing and hands and feet are hieroglyphic mice. And the whole painting is done in blocks of vivid colour.

One of the things I love about ancient Egyptian art is the style: bold lines and bold colours. For me, this boldness is effective because it allows the image to stand out. It increases the intensity of the artwork so that it sticks in the mind. I think this is important because it highlights a religious feel to their drawings, sculptures and paintings, and the ancient Egyptian religion was, and is still, captivating. Their gods and goddesses, compiled of a mixture of human and animal body parts, are hugely imaginative. To list just a small selection, there's a crocodile-headed god named Sobek, a hippo goddess named Tawaret, a lioness goddess by the name of Sekhmet, and a demoness made up of all three of these creatures just mentioned. Her name is Ammut, or 'Devourer of the Dead', and eats the hearts of the wicked after judgement. I'm also particularly fond of the ibis-headed deity, Thoth (god of writing and knowledge), but of course my favourite has probably got to be Bastet, the cat-headed goddess of domesticity, pleasure, protection.

I just find it fascinating how there are so many animal-headed deities in the ancient Egyptian religion. For me, it symbolises a merging of nature with humanity, and this shows how organic our human instincts and qualities are. Human-animal hybrids are certainly a recurring theme in my own artworks; I don’t think we should set ourselves apart from other animals as not only is it arrogant to assume we are above other species, but it is also dangerous for our ecosystems and the wellbeing of our planet. ‘Cat Man’, then, is simply a humanised cat, or a 'felinised' human, combining both organisms and showing our relationship with a different species.

Either that or he's one of Bastet's henchmen.

Cosmic Octopus

Toucans!