Courtney Ruge, ‘Felines’ 2021. Oil pastels on paper primed with a textured acrylic ground. 42 x 59.4cm each. Image courtesy: the artist. 

Artist statement

Felines is a series of four oil pastel drawings, depicting cats in various contexts. Emphasising textural materiality and the humility of the handmade, blocks of saturated colour are embellished with hard and soft mark-making achieved via scumbling, sgraffito, and blending techniques. Drawing upon  the influence of Noel McKenna, elements of humour, kitsch,  and anthropomorphism are used to explore human-animal  relationships, tracing our own evolution alongside these  mysterious creatures as we worshipped, feared, and domesticated them.

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