I was thinking of an idea for a cat themed exhibition called “Meow”, a celebration of the feline kind. As I was itching to create another big piece, of course I was going to do a giant cat of some kind. Turns out a humanish cat person is just what was needed. For this one I had an idea behind it. Schrodinger’s Cat..

I came across this when I was reading about quantum mechanics (before discovering that at least for me, it was an unknowable quagmire of confusion)

Schrodinger proposed a thought experiment where a cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box. If an internal monitor detects radioactivity (a single atom decaying) the flask is shattered and the cat dies. The idea being that until the box is opened and the cat is observed the cat is simultaneously alive and dead.

So the artwork is kind of a cat rescue situation, the cat burglar rescuing Schrodinger’s cat.

The frame leans slightly forward to get the best stability.

First I went to see my personal welder to get a frame made (thanks Dad!) Then I began building up the form with newspaper and paper mache.

I wanted to have the figure holding a cat cage, a wine box was the perfect size. I put a lot of wire and paper mache strengthening in the arms, particularly the one holding the cage as I didn’t want it to droop with the weight.

Max got covered in glue. Turns out he loves the flour and water mix. I had to redo the legs because he licked the glue off.

Once it was dry I covered it with cloth and PVA glue. A bit if fiddling to get the bars on the cage sitting straight and the little cat the right size to just fit the cage ( poor cat!)

Fortunately we had great drying weather, and dry enough to the painting outside. There was a lot of paint being splashed around!

The Cat Burglar installed at the exhibition.

She turned out a bit gentler looking than a lot of my creations.