Captain Mahy's Cat - print of oil painting by Matthew Graysmith
£42.00
ARTIST STATEMENT: "In this work, I draw from the Guernsey folktale Mrs Mahy’s Cat. The tale follows a woman who transforms into a cat in order to eavesdrop on the gossip of towns ‘washer-women’ and spreads the word once she has become a woman again, unbeknown to the washers. I love the tale as it stresses the value of the spoken word narrative, one which still exists today through the form of news and gossip albeit through phones, not shapeshifting cats. I painted it in a contemporary setting with people from my life - I like the idea that the relevance underlying the tale is still there within the people within the picture, who’s ancestors would’ve grown up hearing such tales."
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Matt created this piece in 2021 while aged 21 and studying Fine Art at Camberwell College. He is a recipient of the Sovereign Art Foundation Guernsey Bursary in 2021.
