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Maddy Buttling
maddybuttling@gmail.com








   dead ham


dead pierre, 2019 oil on plywood, 13.5cm x 14.5cm in private collection When my pet hamster, Pierre, was dying, I took a photo. I photographed, drew, and painted her often throughout her short life, so it felt as though such an event should be no exception. As soon as I put my camera phone down, she was dead, so the image I worked from is the very moment she died. At the time, I was writing my dissertation on the concept of ‘The Rainbow Bridge’, a sort of backdoor into heaven for pets. I wondered, if a heaven exists, would Pierre be ascending, or suspended mid-air, in hamster limbo. hamster under a fan meme, 2020 oil on floorboard, 19.5cm x 15cm A celebrity hamster of sorts, 'Hamster Under a Fan', also referred to as 'Staring Hamster', is a somewhat niche meme used in filters to simulate a video call with the hamster, which appears to be looking back at the viewer through a phone camera. bonne nuit, pierre, 2019 oil on plywood, 14cm x 16cm A self portrait with Pierre, completed after her death. bald pierre, 2023 oil on plywood, 13.5cm x 18cm Dreams of hamsters: bald Pierre 09/04/18 I found Pierre in her cage frozen and plucked like a chicken. Should probably stop eating meat One a recent series of paintings made from entries to my dream diary (I've kept quite a detailed log of my dreams almost every day since around 2017) I've been reading through my dreams and noticed a theme of strange hamster occurrences. These dreams have pretty much subsided now that it has been a couple of years since my last hamster died. Through searching my notes app where I write them down I counted 61 hamster dreams total dead godot in a tumeric gold tea box, 2021 oil on plywood, 17.5cm x 11cm in private collection The burial of my second hamster, Godot. He lies in a cardboard tea box, grasping a peanut for the next life. swimming godot, 2023 oil on plywood, 13.5cm x 18cm Dreams of hamsters: swimming Godot 19/09/22 Godot was looking very old and ill, was his birthday and recieved birthday cards for him from friends, saw a intro the future that he would die the next day if he carried on like he was. So gave him water in his mouth but he didn't want it. Took him to a shallow tank of water and he slowly got into the water then gradually started swimming until he was doing laps, and swishing his arms around like a human. He looked young again and totally rejuvenated. Was filming him on my phone as music played. One a recent series of paintings made from entries to my dream diary (I've kept quite a detailed log of my dreams almost every day since around 2017) I've been reading through my dreams and noticed a theme of strange hamster occurrences. These dreams have pretty much subsided now that it has been a couple of years since my last hamster died. Through searching my notes app where I write them down I counted 61 hamster dreams total penne pierre, 2019 enamel on plywood, 15cm x 19cm Pierre steals some penne, sat on a glass table top.