Kitty Kitty - Virginia Cohn Parkum, C. 1990s

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Kitty Kitty
Virginia Cohn Parkum, c. Unknown

In Kitty Kitty, Virginia Cohn Parkum constructs a scene that oscillates between tenderness … Read more Kitty Kitty
Virginia Cohn Parkum, c. Unknown

In Kitty Kitty, Virginia Cohn Parkum constructs a scene that oscillates between tenderness and unease. A loosely rendered seated figure, cloaked in a vivid red garment, occupies the upper portion of the composition, while below and to the right a dark feline form emerges from shadow. The cat’s eyes glow faintly within a blocky, almost architectural body, creating a presence that is at once companionable and watchful. The spatial relationship between figure and animal is ambiguous: they appear close, yet separated by darkness and painterly abstraction.

Color anchors the composition’s emotional tension. The saturated red of the figure’s garment radiates warmth and corporeal presence, while the surrounding field of deep blues, blacks, and violets absorbs light and compresses space. Soft pink and gray brushstrokes define limbs and shoulders, suggesting gesture rather than anatomical precision. Against the enveloping darkness, the red becomes both a point of focus and a signal of vulnerability.

Parkum’s brushwork remains direct and unrefined, preserving the immediacy of mark-making. Thick, gestural strokes describe the body, while the cat is rendered with heavier, more opaque passages that give it a grounded, almost monolithic weight. Scraped and layered surfaces reveal shifts in pressure and revision, allowing the painting to retain its sense of process.

The presence of the cat introduces a psychological dimension. Traditionally associated with domestic intimacy, independence, and nocturnal awareness, the animal here appears both protective and inscrutable. Its luminous eyes suggest perception beyond the human figure’s awareness, transforming the scene into a quiet meditation on companionship, solitude, and the unseen emotional currents that inhabit interior spaces.

Within Parkum’s broader body of work—often marked by fractured figures and existential tension—Kitty Kitty offers a moment of intimate stillness without abandoning ambiguity. The painting does not resolve into comfort; instead, it holds the viewer within a dim interior where warmth, watchfulness, and isolation coexist.
-Jonathan Flike See less