Melty Kitty 2022

Curator: Here we have Camilla d’Errico’s "Melty Kitty" from 2022, an acrylic painting offering a contemporary take on a well-known icon. Editor: My first impression is of striking contrast, the almost sterile white of the Kitty juxtaposed with this vibrant, melting rainbow. It’s playful, yet there’s something a little unsettling about it too. Curator: Absolutely. It’s this disjunction between the cheerful icon and the act of melting that’s so captivating. Acrylics lend themselves to this slick, almost artificial smoothness of the white surfaces and contribute to the clean rendering and smooth surface. The precise execution really underscores the message. The act of making is quite precise. Editor: Indeed, the rainbow, besides being visually delightful, reads to me as a symbol of decay or transition. Bows are traditionally seen as adornments of innocence, but this one weeps pigment, implying a loss, a subversion of this very innocence. Think of the way popular cultural icons mutate in meaning through successive generations; there's something similar at work here. Curator: And consider the commodity itself. Hello Kitty, a product deeply embedded in consumer culture, undergoes this striking material change before us. What does the dripping bow tell us about our relationship with popular figures? Perhaps it speaks to the fleeting nature of trends, the eventual decay of even the most beloved commodities as culture shifts and consumes. Editor: That tension is really compelling: on one hand, you have Hello Kitty's familiar blank expression—a lack of affect to mask a depth of resonance in terms of symbolism. And on the other, you have this effervescent burst of pure color, dripping with raw emotion. There is some clear emotion being presented to viewers via those rainbow streaks. Curator: Precisely! It shows how d’Errico questions, on a formal and thematic level, the meaning-making process behind even the simplest commodities in our ever-changing cultural landscape. Editor: I concur; seeing "Melty Kitty" today has made me think more deeply about the ways popular figures imprint upon our collective consciousness and transform with each viewing. Curator: Agreed. I appreciate how the artist calls attention to materials and production in understanding modern pop culture.