DianaPop_0426033_scan_300_-3.jpg
DSC01736.jpg
DSC01731.jpg
DSC01729.jpg
DSC01734.jpg
DianaPop_0426033_scan_300_-3.jpg
DSC01736.jpg
DSC01731.jpg
DSC01729.jpg
DSC01734.jpg

Big Cat Energy

from $45.00

This piece explores instinct, power, vulnerability, survival, and the reclamation of self after experiences that overwhelm, suppress, or control us. Intended as a fierce, protective goddess, this rooted cat symbol grows past the boundaries meant to contain her. It reflects on the archetypal feminine, outside of passive or submissive projections, as it stands defiant, emotionally alive, and unapologetically powerful.

Type:

This piece explores instinct, power, vulnerability, survival, and the reclamation of self after experiences that overwhelm, suppress, or control us. Intended as a fierce, protective goddess, this rooted cat symbol grows past the boundaries meant to contain her. It reflects on the archetypal feminine, outside of passive or submissive projections, as it stands defiant, emotionally alive, and unapologetically powerful.

Artist Note

This symbol first appeared in 2019, during a process painting workshop at Esalen Institute. At the time, I had just started EMDR therapy, and was knee-deep in processing experiences of abuse, powerlessness, and shame, and this rooted cat emerged as a balancing archetypal image in response to those memories. As if to show me that this power existed within and I could access it, even if I was disconnected from it for a long time.

But I wasn’t gonna show people this raw process painting!

So, years later, after attending a “Goddess-Makers in an Age of Autocrats” event (hosted by Pacifica Graduate Institute), I decided to recreate and share her with others who might need this energy too. The event revered the archetypal feminine as a force of intuition, protection, resistance, and transformation.

While repainting her, I kept thinking about how every being in nature has defense mechanisms, yet many of us are taught to fear our own protective instincts, or associate power with harm, because of the ways power has been misused against us. I wanted this figure to embody another possibility: power that protects rather than dominates.

To me, she reflects a longing for a world where femininity is not equated with weakness, masculinity is allowed to show vulnerability and feeling, and people of all gender identities are allowed to exist freely and safely in their bodies.

Materials

Original: Acrylic, marker on mixed media archival paper (270gsm)

Prints: Printed on Moab Entrada Rag Bright paper (190gsm). This is an award-winning 100% cotton, archival acid- and lignin-free paper.