Description

In the moonlit depths of an enchanted jungle by the sea, a surreal romance unfolds in The Owl and the Pussycat by Carlos Quinto Kemm. Here, nestled among lush ferns and fantastical creatures, the characters of Edward Lear’s whimsical poem come to life—yet they are transformed into something far more enigmatic, dreamlike, and lushly layered.

The owl stands proudly to the left, draped in aristocratic red, gold, and burgundy garments, with the solemn face of a barn owl where a human’s should be. Regal and still, he gazes out from a world that feels suspended between centuries. There’s an elegance to his posture, but his expression remains unreadable, distant—as though he carries the weight of poetic memory. Seated beside him on a brightly patterned bench, the Pussycat rests in casual majesty. Her upper body is human, bare-chested and ethereal, her head unmistakably feline—complete with tufted ears and an unfazed stare. Her skirt is an opulent tapestry of natural abundance: fruits, flowers, butterflies, all interwoven in a riot of color and life. She embodies sensuality, fertility, and surreal beauty. Her hand gently grazes her feline brow, as though aware of her symbolic status in this strange paradise.

The environment around them is alive with fantastical detail. On the ground, small blue-skinned creatures perch among the roots—guardians or mischief-makers, perhaps. A guitar lies at the lovers’ feet, a quiet nod to Lear’s original poem, where music is the language of courtship. Overhead, a large green luna moth floats like a ghost, suspended in the night air. Behind them rises a mystical landscape: an Asian-style pagoda peaks through the dense foliage, a waterfall cascades near a moss-covered statue, and a full moon lights the path to the sea. To the right, a boat—green and empty—waits at the shore, bobbing slightly in glowing, frothy waves. It is the pea-green boat, their vessel of escape and union, now docked, as if this wild land is their final destination. Even the ornate frame, carved and decorated with dragons, floral medallions, and serpentine loops, serves as more than a border—it’s a portal. It traps this dream within an elaborate, almost baroque cage, suggesting that what we’re seeing is both a fantasy and a memory, something eternal and untouchable.

Carlos Quinto Kemm doesn’t merely illustrate Lear’s poem; he reimagines it through a collage of the subconscious. Layers of Victorian romance, mythological symbolism, natural opulence, and cultural fragments merge into a single tableau. It is a world of harmony and strangeness, where an owl and a cat can fall in love, voyage to another realm, and dwell in a paradise born of dreams and fragments. Their story lingers—not just as a children’s poem, but as a myth remixed through time, memory, and art.