Amanda Joy Calobrisi

Region: Midwest

To a child, everything is truth. They are resistant to the distinction between fantasy and reality that we make as we grow older. Objects bear witness and are often times animated into participation. My canvas is the stage where the animate and inanimate intermingle, a place where the fictional becomes real and vice versa. It is the oscillation between illusion and reality that has the power to transform and suspend time.

My recent work explores cat mythologies, both historical and personal. This body of work examines and celebrates the relationship between humans and felines. We cling to them telepathically, transmitting ourselves, our hopes, fears and desires, while they stare back at us dreaming of the hunt. A woman with multiple cats conjures up images of loneliness, teetering on a knife-edge between tenderness and madness. I liken being an artist to being an indoor cat. We vacillate between narcissistic self-absorption and a selfless and shameless need of love and attention. Our imaginary worlds freed beyond the boundaries of the walls of our homes and studios.