This piece is dedicated to my best friend Lewis. The drawing is a self portrait of me sitting with my cat gazing out the window in deep contemplation. I had just moved away from Canada and needed to restart my life someplace new without much of a plan or a sense of home. I moved around a lot in life and spent important formidable years influenced by different countries and cultures, but I was getting tired of losing the people I grow to love. Lewis and I have been able to go years without seeing each other and managed to stay close through frequent phone calls and playing games online
The funny part to the story is that the cat I had shared the same name with my best friend. I didn't name the cat after him, but acquired the cat out of complete surprise when he was 3 and already named Lewis. I never set out to have a cat, my first roommate in university wanted a cat and found a free one online. I just moved to a new city away from everyone I knew, so I agreed to having an apartment cat. Shortly after, I found myself as the primary care giver for the cat and he began sleeping in my room at night. I fell in love with him and he eventually became my cat, moving with me where I go. Having the cat became this hilarious tangible manifestation of my long distance friendship to Lewis.
The unglazed exterior of the vase allows the dark black clay body to absorb light and for the white slip to have a matte finish. The white slip was applied to the surface of the black clay body with long expressive brush strokes conveying movement around the entirety of the vase and asserting a high contrast in the sgraffito drawings.
