Cat Lady

Jessica always loved cats and grew up with them as a constant, presence in her home. It was only when she became a teenager and people made fun of her for her love of cats that she grasped the concept of “being” a cat lady. She understood that it went beyond just enjoying cats, that it translated to being a failure in the parts of your life that relate to men and procreating. At 18 years old, Jessica's first boyfriend made her a birthday card depicting her as an old lady holding a cat. He meant it as an insult... but she still has the card.

As Jessica grew older, she embraced the identity of cat lady, even as friends cracked jokes and downplayed their love for their own cats. She frequently uses the cat as a motif in her work. Sometimes the cat is an observer of human behavior, sometimes a conduit for wildness or rage and sometimes a loyal guardian.

The Bastet ring is a goddess protector, the Little Hunters are playful. We Grab Back references the grabbing of women in their pussies that Trump joked about doing in those recordings that apparently didn’t matter to many voters.

The cat lady portraits are a response to JD Vance’s suggestion that anyone who isn’t a heteronormative family woman or man is a cat lady! As if it is an insult... 

Again, Jessica is embracing the cat as an emblem for female empowerment and expression, offering the portraits of all kinds of women and their cats as a riposte.