Cats In Crisis

About

‘Cats in Crisis’ the opening exhibition at Hotel Michele takes its title from charitable organisation that once occupied the shop opposite, and brings together new works by Kavel Rafferty and Thelma Speirs that mark the beginnings of a shift in direction, from commercial illustration and fashion towards making as artists for exhibition spaces.
Kavel Rafferty makes assemblages from printed matter that she has collected from various thrift stores and auction sites. When these collections are organised, patterns start to emerge and this provides her with the content she needs to find meaning and significance from their commercial usage. These printed things then go through a subtle process of manipulation to either erase or single out that meaning or create a new form that is individual and unique.
In ‘The Affirmations’ the viewer is presented with a series of vintage posters that have been virtually obliterated with enamel paint, leaving a statement that has been reverse highlighted and a visual clue to the image hiding underneith. These affirmations act as particular bug-bears for the artist who wonders whether they still have any meaning at all, or just act as subtle devices or sweet nothings for wellness & influencer cultures
to push familiar content through social media platforms.
In ‘My Familiars’ Thelma Speirs presents us with a series of abstracted pop portraits made up of commonplace childrens stickers that convey observations she has made of the cats she has known and loved. Swapping the pencil, the brush and more recently the etching plate for these stickers, the artist seeks to capture the unruly nature of her subjects; Captain, Didi, Kelloggs, Mimi, Mouse, Skipper & Ted.
Through these kitch constructions Speirs is questioning the material values, aesthetic hierarchies and taste systems that exist within art.