Christy • 16 • Monaghan

16-18 Category   •  2026
This drawing explores a predator and prey interaction. A cat hunting a mouse is an ordinary part of nature, yet humans often view it through a softened lens, amused by the cat’s playfulness and ignorant of the reality of the hunt. That tension between what’s actually happening and how we tend to interpret it shaped the direction of my work. The cat’s expression leans into curiosity and charm, even as its focus is absolute, determined to make that mouse hermeal. It shows how easily human perception can blur the line between innocence and instinct. The mouse, minute and alert, becomes a quiet centre of vulnerability. Its fear is subtle, almost easy to overlook. Small details like a feather and faint red marks hint at brutality of predation without turning the scene into spectacle, instead it’s a simple story that doesn’t need dramatics or exaggeration to be understood. The background shifts from dark to light in a blurred gradient, narrowing attention and letting everything outside the moment fall away. In that small, isolated space, the mouse feels even more exposed, caught between the cat’s instinct and the human gaze watching the interaction develop Instead of presenting nature as something distant or idealised, this drawing acknowledges the way humans inevitably filter it softening, misreading, or reshaping it while still partaking in it