Femme Forward – Lancaster, PA

“Art, done by the subject, is the truest window into any world. Wordlessly, you are forced to consider the subject/imagery at hand. It is human nature to contextualize what is being provided and apply it to your life- how would you feel if this, whatever it may be, was happening to you?” – Cat

Those on the outside of the art world, myself included, seem to have many misconceptions about what “art” really is. We seem to think that to make great art, you have to have degrees or other accolades to back up your work. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Art is anything you want it to be, whether or not someone else will connect with it will all depend on who views your work.

Art takes on many forms; paintings, drawings, music, dance, the list goes on. The themes and motivations behind them follow the same rule. Art has been used to express every emotion on the planet, as well as a form of affection or even a form of protest. Art has been widely used by activists and artists within the LGBTQ community to draw attention to important issues.

An example of art being used to draw attention to an important LGBTQ issue is Keith Haring’s graffiti inspired artwork. Even if you don’t recognize the name, Haring’s work is something we have all seen at one point or another; they are mostly figures of people in different poses using primary colors and lines to accent their movements. Haring created art for many public works, such as hospitals, orphanages and charities. After being diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, Haring used his talents to draw attention to the illness and funded AIDS organizations through the creation of the Keith Haring Foundation. Haring’s design for National Coming Out Day (1988) is still in use annually.

SOOP (aka Cat Carrión) has a similar background to Haring in the way of her childhood. Cat has fond memories of her first experiences drawing cartoons with her father after seeing MAD Magazine. This is when she realized that art can be anything you want it to be, and not every piece you create needs to be a perfect polished one.

Using these themes from her experiences growing up on Long Island, Cat’s art gives us a peek into the world through her eyes. I started this article with a quote from Cat that I thought represented her well, and speaks to the importance of creating art as a form of truth telling. Cat is taking another page from Haring’s book by Marrying the Tubes as a small form of protest and means of engaging the community (the “tubes” are the multicolored art installation that was recently constructed on top of the library in Ewell Plaza). Instead of commissioning a local artist to create the installation, the city had an artist from Miami create the piece for the library. This has left some local artists feeling a disconnect from the installation, and Cat has taken matters into her own hands to establish a connection between the community and the installation.

Art transcends all formal qualifications and accolades, serving as a medium for personal expression. As exemplified by Keith Haring and Cat Carrión, art has the power to highlight critical issues, foster community engagement, and challenge societal norms. Cat’s efforts to connect the local community with the new installation at Ewell Plaza demonstrate the enduring significance of art as a vehicle for protest and truth-telling. By embracing the idea that art can be anything you want it to be, Cat and artists like her remind us that the truest art comes from the heart. Through her work, she invites us to see the world through her eyes and to find our own reflections within her creations.

“Marrying the Tubes” might seem silly to some, but commissioning outside artists for a project like the Ewell Plaza work underscores the essential role of local artists in creating relevant and meaningful public art. The Ewell Plaza installation highlights the importance of including local voices in the artistic process, ensuring that public art reflects and enriches the community it inhabits. Cat’s intervention is a powerful statement about the need for inclusivity and the value of homegrown artistic talent. Whether it’s a doodle shared between a father and daughter or a bold public installation, art invites us to engage, reflect, and connect. Through the eyes of artists like Cat Carrión, we are reminded that art is not just a creation; it can be the beginning of an important conversation.