"My painting Hermit is of the house I live next door to where there lives a man I’ve never seen. He has no windows and cats. Any pet seems to have been granted a true chance at reestablishing its place alongside humanity these recent months. The notion brings to mind cat-ladies and that there may be more of them after Quarantine breaks. I only know it’s a man living in the house next door because my girlfriend found her cat living with him and the other many felines for some weeks. She and our unseen neighbor corresponded through a series of letters left on his fence. In all the time I was painting I never saw the man but always felt that he could see me, as I would walk by to check the accuracy of my painting. Perhaps he only ever comes out to check the letters left on his gate? That thought makes me realize Quarantine for some was already a lifestyle before Covid-19 became a household fear." - Sean Cairns
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