Barn Cat

2017
18x25.5in
acrylic on masonite

This is our barn cat, Tyrone. Half wild, half house cat, a boxful of instinct and potential energy, waiting to be triggered. The signs are all there. The cage behind him representing confinement, and the barn post marked by his claws, representing dominance. His domain of the barn is a kind of purgatory between tame and wild, urbanized or domesticated and yet still connected to the rhythm of nature, aware and super tuned to the slightest vibration. A fuse between potential and kinetic energy. Tyrone died a hero’s death a few weeks ago, choosing a quiet spot in my shed to end his journey. I buried him in my Soiled Reputation hoodie he used to curl up in, with full honors, in our meadow. I saw a lot of myself in Tyrone.