cats and monsters A Grin Without A Cat

cats and monsters A Grin Without A Cat18" x 24" acrylics on canvas. Justin Hillgrove x Mike Capp. 2024. "A Grin Without A Cat" is a collaborative painting that I worked on with Mike Capp. We passed the painting back and forth several times, each time adding a bit more to our respective sides of the canvas. This piece was created for Alice In Wonderland: A Space Opera, an art exhibition held in April 2024 at Monstera fantastic shop in Ballard, Washington, that has carried my art longer

18" x 24" acrylics on canvas. Justin Hillgrove x Mike Capp. 2024. "A Grin Without A Cat" is a collaborative painting that I worked on with Mike Capp. We passed the painting back and forth several times, each time adding a bit more to our respective sides of the canvas.

This piece was created for Alice In Wonderland: A Space Opera, an art exhibition held in April 2024 at Monster—a fantastic shop in Ballard, Washington, that has carried my art longer than anywhere else, since 2007. The exhibition reimagined Alice’s adventures as a journey through time and space. It all began with a simple thought: What if Alice’s adventures took place far in the future, as she explored the universe on her own? I started sketching out ideas and soon invited a few friends—Mike Capp, Michael Gardner, Travis Torgerson, and my son, Calvin Hillgrove—to join me on this creative adventure.

“All right,” said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which remained some time after the rest of it had gone. “Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,” thought Alice; “but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!”~ Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” 1865)