“Cat’s Cradle”

2016 | Triptych | (3x) 7”x17” | Mixed-media:
Prismacolor Verithin red/blue colored pencil, Derwent Inktense pencils, white charcoal, and water brush on cold press watercolor paper.

Cat’s Cradle (n.)
/ˈkats ˈˌkrādl/
1) A series of string figures created between two (or more) people as a game.
2) Something very complicated.

“CAT’S CRADLE” is a play in 3 parts. Starting with a stalemate: The masked girl begs for her lover to join her, but the blind Satyr remains unmovable as he contemplates the scissors in his reach. A sudden shift of tension: she pleads, unable to make him stay, as he moves to leave. What’s left behind: Though he has done the work to remove himself from the picture, she is still tangled in the attachment until she does the work to free herself as well.

I think that too often we think a relationship has concluded when one party has made an exit. We fail to see that for the person left behind, they are still IN the relationship until they process and grieve.
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This piece was created for the RED SHIFT art salon hosted by Retrograde Art Collective at The Red Museum Sacramento (September 2016).