FIONA MCMONAGLE

CAT LADY

Sophie Gannon Gallery

16 Jul 2024 – 03 Aug 2024

Cat Lady
noun: cat lady; plural noun: cat ladies.
noun: crazy cat lady; plural noun: crazy cat ladies

definition: an older woman who lives alone with a large number of cats, to which she is thought to be obsessively devoted.

There are plenty of words to describe single women, but the trope of the ‘Cat Lady’ is one that has persisted in culture since the Middle Ages. Today it is lazy pop cultural shorthand that implies: A single, lonely, eccentric, sexless woman who cannot hold down a man and so turns to her cats for companionship.
To understand how this sexist trope can still exist in 2024 it is necessary to look back through history. Things started off well for women and cats in ancient times. Felines and feminine deities went hand in hand. Egypt’s half cat half woman Bastet was the Goddess of domesticity, childbirth and women’s secrets. Chinese cat goddess Li Shou was a symbol of fertility, and in Norse mythology, Freyja, the goddess of beauty and strength, rode a chariot pulled by Cats.

However, by the Middle Ages there were accusations of witchcraft. Rumours of women being able to turn themselves into their feline friends began. These witch hunts which were instigated by the myth and fear of the single, unmarried woman, unfortunately lasted nearly three centuries.

The 1800’s saw a shift in attitudes. Society had become less superstitious, however negative connotations of the relationship between cats and women remained. ‘witch’ was swapped out for ‘old maid’ a new term for a single woman without children, which eventually landed on ‘cat lady’ and further even to ‘crazy cat lady.’

In this new body of work, ‘Cat Lady’ McMonagle, explores this age- old stereotype. Having had a long facination in pop culture and its influence on how society thinks and acts, McMonagle’s new work portrays some of pop culture’s most iconic women; who all just happen to, love cats.

Working with a fluid acrylic paint applied to a raw canvas allows these portraits to be imperfect yet recognisable representations of their subjects. The low viscosity of the paint takes on a watercolour like quality as it travels on its own path marking and staining the canvas, leaving a series of contrasting shapes. This series of works seeks to simultaneously discuss this problematic female label with its deeply sinister history, while also attempting to turn the trope on it is head by celebrating women’s feline friendships in a playful way.

The concept of the ‘crazy cat lady’ which still exists today tells us more about societal perceptions of women, about how little we have progressed away from traditional norms. It has long been and still is a pejorative term and a device for transferring shame and judgment on women who challenge traditional roles and refuse to follow the domestic mandate.