“Finding Your Flock,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
There’s something endlessly charming to us about anthropomorphizing animals. For millennia, we’ve been concocting creatures that walk, talk, and act just like we do, whether it be through fairy tales, fables, children’s books, films, or visual art. Nathan Durfee’s upcoming solo exhibition fits squarely within that tradition, presenting whimsical scenes in which animals display the same sense of mischief, humor, and joy as any human.
Feather and Fur gathers several of Durfee’s new paintings, each featuring a colorful cast of characters. In one piece, a cat attempts to disguise itself as a flamingo, carefully balancing on stilts while donning a feathery cape and a fake beak. In another work, two puppies have built their own dog house from a cardboard box, scribbling on childlike doodles of a door, tiled roof, mailbox, and windows. Humans rarely appear in these surreal worlds; but when they do, Durfee takes care to closely integrate them with other animals.
For Bundling Up the Pack, for instance, Durfee showcases a young girl reading a book in the forest, with a group of cats circling around her. Even though they’re domesticated, these cats don’t strike us as pets but rather as companions, elevated to the same status as people. They wrap themselves in knit sweaters, argyle vests, striped scarves, and classy hats, engaging with this girl as though they, too, can read and speak. Even in Fan Club Meeting, where there aren’t any animals present in the composition itself, it’s clear that they still influence every element of this fantastical setting. Here, a boy sits on his bed and eagerly speaks on the phone, his room decorated with countless pet-related objects.
“Animals give us this beautiful, blank canvas of personality,” Durfee explains. “We project our quirks, our bravery, our awkwardness onto them—and, in return, they make us feel understood.”
At the heart of Feather and Fur is Finding Your Flock, a massive oil-on-panel work. The painting is one of the exhibition’s most humorous, depicting a handful of cats dressed up as birds and perched atop a telephone wire. Though the costumes may not be the most convincing, they’re still witty and eccentric, suggesting that the cats themselves crafted them in a scheme to befriend birds.
“[The exhibition] is about connection,” Durfee continues. “Birds and mammals live such different lives, but in these paintings they share common goals: adventure, belonging, mischief, joy.”
Nathan Durfee: Feather and Fur will be showing from October 3 to 24, 2025 at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
Nathan Durfee’s upcoming solo exhibition, Feather and Fur, shows how animals display the same sense of mischief, humor, and joy as any human.
“Crafting the Flight,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
“Bundling Up the Pack,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
“Checking on the Haul,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
“Crafting the Doghouse,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
The show will open at Robert Lange Studios on October 3, 2025.
“Fan Club Meeting,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
“Charleston Strays,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
“Fawning for Flamingos,” featured in “Feather and Fur” at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, S.C.
