Pretty In Pink 

Curator: Oh, hello. Look at this funny one. This oil painting features a white cat decked out with heart-shaped sunglasses and a polka-dot bow tie against a flurry of floating hearts. It's cheekily called "Pretty In Pink," by Lucia Heffernan. Editor: It's a cute and sentimental scene with what seems to me an ironic expression, perhaps referencing kitsch Valentines, but I also wonder if it makes a commentary on the commodification of affection. What’s your sense of this piece? Curator: Kitsch for sure. I bet she laughed while she was making it, that kind of irreverent sentimentality...it almost has a Norman Rockwell quality, if Norman Rockwell painted bunnies in shades! And it's that irony that gets you thinking about the role affection plays in modern life, not necessarily in a bad way. More in an 'isn't it all a bit silly' way. Editor: Yes! There’s an art-historical conversation occurring. On the one hand, this oil-on-canvas is rendered in a relatively straightforward painterly style, like something found in a small shop; but on the other, it's like poking fun at representational norms while subtly alluding to social themes like romantic expectations. Curator: And the scale, it feels intentionally modest, inviting intimacy instead of grand pronouncements. What is it…maybe 10x10 inches? I could see that in a small apartment, or over the bed. That wink every morning, "Hello, lover, let's have some coffee.” Editor: Precisely, but how might we think about the use of this cat as an allegory in that everyday intimate scene? Is it perhaps poking fun at contemporary digital romantic rituals on apps like TikTok and Instagram, or IRL first date jitters, through humor and pathos? It's a very contemporary spin on classical portraiture tropes. Curator: That is such a fresh way to approach it. It hits a sweet spot. You see the virtuosity in the craft—the animal's texture, that knowing expression. There’s definitely some complex intention in there. This is a lighthearted take on the pursuit of love and beauty, maybe. Editor: Well said! Thanks for shedding some new light on this artwork. Curator: Thank you; it was fun unpacking that pink, fuzzy, romantic bunny.