Bob Cat 

Curator: Here we have a striking piece. It's entitled "Bob Cat," by Lucia Heffernan, and it's executed in oil paint. The precise date isn't currently available, but what are your initial impressions? Editor: Oh my whiskers! Talk about feline fabulousity. This cat’s whole vibe is serving major self-love, right down to that swipe of ruby-red lipstick. Curator: It's certainly playful. Heffernan often uses anthropomorphism in her paintings, which opens interesting questions about our relationship to the animal world. Think about the social commentary... Editor: Well, if this kitty isn't embracing their inner diva, I don't know who is. Seriously, who hasn't felt that burst of confidence with a fresh application of lipstick? It cuts through the whole species divide, doesn’t it? That smooth crimson against a pink ground, a black wig, white sunglasses - you just wanna know what is on the music playlist for Bob Cat. Curator: It's intriguing how Heffernan places an animal within a traditionally human-centric scene, one so associated with concepts like beauty and personal image. The artist prompts a viewer to think about how human norms might feel absurd to non-human beings and the performance of such conventions. Editor: True, and that earnest little face in contrast with the glam accoutrements! It’s just unexpectedly brilliant. I can't help imagining it having a sassy internal monologue that echoes, like, the thoughts we all secretly think? It kind of pulls down that gallery wall a little bit, to remind me how we are not as special as we sometimes feel? I could spend hours pondering it. Curator: Precisely. It makes you reconsider where we place value and humor in how those values appear in unexpected subjects. It also asks you to bring our preconceptions about how we view art to the foreground, what makes a 'portrait', or even what is funny! Editor: Okay, you have spun a pretty fine yarn on those points; all that to say… it’s a gas and I am totally crushing on this kitty’s glow-up game. And maybe it hints at my own need for a fresh tube of lipstick.