​The series was greatly inspired by Nicole Eisenman's Close to the edges (see figure 1).

​

“Nicole Eisenman’s Close to the Edge (2015) depicts a person’s peaceful nap scene with a cat, but its title—referencing a 1972 Yes music album—suggests deeper themes like emotionality and creativity" (Karnes, 2002, p.89) . ​

​

Referring to Jakob von Uexkull’s book A Foray Into the Worlds of Animals and Humans, I recon Eisenman is perhaps depicting not only through her body as a lens but also through the cat. As Eisenman mentioned in an interview, “I paint the figure because I know the world through my body, I understand my desire and my anxieties through my body …” (ibid.) and she depicted the cat voluntarily lying by her side, perhaps suggests that they were going through these anxieties together.​

 

I resonated with the composition of the subjects in the painting (both the owner and the cat) as this is a perfect depiction of me and my cat's daily ritural and a metaphor of us going through the emotion and anxieties in the foreign together. 

​

Reference:

Karnes, A. (2022) Women painting women. Fort Worth, TX, New York, NY: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth ; DelMonico Books, ARTBOOK/D.A.P. ​​

​

Sothebys Editor (2025) Nicole Eisenman: Close to the edge, Sothebys.com. Available at: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/contemporary-art-evening-auction-l19024/lot.1.html (Accessed: 01 November 2025). 

​

Uexküll, J. von and O’Neil, J.D. (2013) A foray into the worlds of animals and humans: With a theory of meaning. S.l.: University of Minnesota Press. 

​