FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Entertainment

Textile Artist Cat Rabbit Makes Nostalgic Soft Toys For Adults

Her upcoming solo show features soft felt sculptures of backpacks, boiled eggs and Baby-Sitters Club books.
All photography courtesy of Cat Rabbit

For her upcoming solo show Kept in Mind, Melbourne-based textiles artist Cat Rabbit is creating soft felt sculptures of kitsch childhood objects like boiled eggs, backpacks and Baby-Sitter’s Club books.

“Lately I have also been obsessed with making felt foods and small details, things that might be otherwise overlooked,” she tells The Creators Project.

“There is a strong sense of nostalgia that runs through everything I make, bringing back ideas of childhood and comfort.”

Advertisement

She says the show will explore these ideas, particularly “how we remember certain things—whether they be precious or incidental.”

Kept in Mind will also feature anthropomorphic soft sculptures of animals—cats will feature prominently—that are so eerily detailed, they look like they might come to life at any moment.

The 33-year-old has long fascinated by strange, humanlike felt animal sculptures wearing dapper clothes. “I like to imagine worlds where lots of different animals co-exist in happy harmony, and amazing outfits, like in Richard Scarry’s Busytown,” she tells us.

“It’s lucky that people like my work enough to buy it, otherwise I might be classified as one of those hoarder types, surrounded by odd characters of my own creation.”

Cat Rabbit creates her soft sculptures using needle felting and embroidery techniques. “Lately I have been trying out hand quilting too, which I have really enjoyed,” she says.

“I really appreciate seeing work that has many many minute details, and that’s something I always like to keep in mind when creating mine.”

Cat Rabbit's new solo show Kept in Mind opens on July 29 at Tinning Street Gallery. You can find out more about her here and follow her on Instagram.

Related:

Underwater Ecosystems Come to Life in Crocheted Coral Reefs

Everything in This Sex Shop is Made of Felt

Melbourne's Jessilla Rogers on Her Endearingly Imperfect Ceramics