The Cat Of Istanbul - Variations 2 — Ceramic by Arnaud Quercy

About This Artwork

This ceramic sculpture explores the relationship between Istanbul's street cats and the city's architecture, where felines exist neither as wild animals nor domesticated pets but as integrated residents of the urban landscape. Through cubist geometry, the work dissolves the boundary between organic feline form and angular architectural elements, using geometric planes to express both cat and city as continuous forms. Standing forty centimeters tall on a sixteen-centimeter base, the sculpture captures how these cats inhabit vertical surfaces throughout Istanbul.

The piece pushes ceramic's structural capabilities through daring verticality and angular projections that extend into space. Thin walls and precarious forms risk collapse during the firing process, echoing the cats' own balance as they navigate ledges and architectural surfaces. Terracotta clay provides the foundation, finished with wax patina and pigments that evoke the warmth of Istanbul's aged stone and weathered brick surfaces.

Created in 2023 as part of the Nature in the City collection, this work translates travel observations into sculptural form. The sculpture weighs one point eight kilograms and demonstrates how boundaries between natural and built environments become productively ambiguous in urban settings. Close viewing reveals how cubist fragmentation merges feline anatomy with architectural geometry.

The work includes certificate of authenticity 20231231-0047 and was sold in January 2024 to a collector in Frankfurt, Germany.