"Cattara"

24"x 30"
Oil on canvas
2026

"My current body of work is a response to Vice President Vance’s remark about the United States being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable with their lives and choices.” He has plenty to say about women without children, and so do I.

The “cat lady” stereotype has deep roots in history, reflecting society’s longstanding discomfort with women who don’t have children. Since medieval times, independent women and cats have been linked to witchcraft and deviance.

Childless Cat Ladies challenges that narrative. Each portrait celebrates strong, fulfilled individuals content in their independence, careers, relationships, and passions. They are not lonely or broken; they are powerful, self-defined, and unapologetically alive.

Let’s all move forward and leave women alone to choose what is right for their own lives. I’m childless by choice, happy with that choice, and, ironically, allergic to cats."

Motherhood is often framed as a biological or gendered role, but its deeper identity lives in the act of nurturing and is not confined to one body or experience. To mother is to hold space, to guide, to protect, to create safety for others. This energy exists across gender identities, embodied by people who move beyond traditional definitions of womanhood and into a more inclusive, evolving understanding of care. It also lives in those who do not have children, but offer care to their community, including animals. In this way, the identity of “mother” becomes less about reproduction and more about relation. It’s an intentional practice of love, responsibility, and presence that resists narrow cultural expectations and instead reflects the full spectrum of human connection.

< Back to Paintings