Pulling strings (triptych)

Who is pulling the strings in this embroidery triptych?

I don’t have a cat. I do not own a cat, and no cats own me. A cat playing with a ball of string tangled around a puppeteer’s hand that is pulling the strings on a cat marionette

The idea for this work came from thinknkng about how cat people think they have control of their pets, but who is really pulling the strings? Has the cat trained their owner/slave tofeed them abd provide toys fir then to play with? Who is the toy and who is being toyed with? You might see the Cat’s Cradle string game in the art.

This work is being exhibited in the Ashburton Society of Arts’ 61st Annual Exhibition at the Ashburton Art Gallery, from 7 July to 1 August 2025.