Catlanta
Rory Hawkins, better known as Catlanta, has elevated his three-legged visually pared down cat icon into the pantheon of Atlanta’s best loved street art symbols. He turns street art into a participatory sport by dropping his cat-themed artwork in interesting public places and leaving on-line clues for treasure hunters to follow. In addition to his fine art and corporate commissions, Rory is also one of Atlanta’s favorite muralists, sometimes even sneaking cats into non-cat-themed murals. Hawkins has been a featured artist for OuterSpace Project, Stacks Squares, Forward Warrior, and Burnin’ Bridges in Chattanooga. Hawkins had a chat with the Atlanta Street Art Map in January 2024:
Please share a few milestones in your journey from your birth in New Orleans, to present day Atlanta
I was Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1988 and moved to College Park the same year. In 2009, I studied art in Cortona, Italy with UGA which cemented my goal to pursue art full time after graduation. I attended Georgia State University as a Studio Art Major and graduated in 2010. During my multi-year internship with Mint Gallery starting in 2009, I became acquainted with the Atlanta arts scene. Working for PAWS Atlanta while attending school, I fostered/adopted the cats that would go on to inspire the original Catlanta character. I painted cats on a few walls in 2011, and Catlanta was born
How has printmaking influenced your work?
Printmaking was my passion and primary focus during my time at Georgia State, but I didn’t have access to the same resources and facilities once I graduated, so I transitioned to more DIY practices like screen printing and gel transfers that I could do at home and for cheap. Replication and eye for detail has remained part of my practice since my days in the GSU print studio and has certainly impacted the way I create work to this day
During your less-than-legal graffiti days, how did the cat become your iconic symbol?
I began drawing the cat character in my sketchbooks and the margins of notebooks as doodles during my non-art classes. My friends who saw it seemed drawn to it and often commented on the cute character. While I never was much of a graffiti writer, I would go out with friends from time to time and after putting up a few cats around town I began to see them being shared online by documenters of the local street art and graffiti scene. Seeing that others were drawn to the character as well led me to keep painting it and ultimately develop it into the character it is today.
How did you start your on-line scavenger hunt art giveaways?
I was inspired by artists like MyDogSighs, Evereman, and KennTwoFour who were already taking part in their own versions of Free Art Friday both abroad and locally. Graffiti and street art was not seen as favorably back in 2011, and I had several neighbors and groups upset with the spray-painted cats around town so I wanted to transition to less destructive means of sharing my work. I was working at Phipps Plaza at the time and stumbled across a bunch of gold magnet sheets from a store display sitting outside a dumpster and took them home. Initially, I thought I would cover my refrigerator in the magnet sheets to have a “solid gold” fridge, but thankfully changed my mind and started making cat shaped magnets out of the gold sheets. I began leaving them out around town and shared pictures of them online via a flickr I had set up to share my tags. After one of the first drops, a commenter shared that they had spent several hours out hunting for a piece. I realized then that this could become a game and that there were people ready and willing to participate.
Having distributed over 1000 free cat artworks, do you have a favorite art giveaway story?
There’s not one in particular, but several times I’ve received messages from successful hunters who shared that they were having a rough day or going through a tough time and searching for and finding one of the cats turned their day around even if just for a moment. Those kinds of interactions make me so happy to hear and inspire me to continue to share my work via scavenger hunts.
How do you use your cat-themed art to encourage others to explore Atlanta?
I like to leave artwork in some of the lesser-known spots that have existed before the development boom we’ve seen lately. As a nearly lifelong resident of the metro area, there are still places I’m discovering and learning about to this day and it’s just fun to encourage others to go out and find these spots while hunting for a three-legged cat painting. I put a lot of time and care into the pieces I create and hope that comes across to the person who ultimately ends up with the kitten.
Where do you get your inspiration for all your variations on the cat theme?
Current events, visiting new locations myself, and comments from followers suggesting new ideas or places for drops. It can be difficult at times to feel inspired to paint another cat, but I’ve tried to experiment with different styles, mediums, and imagery over the years to keep it fresh for me. I like to view the standard three-legged cat shape as a blank canvas and expand on my idea from there. It’s only really a struggle when I get too locked in. By allowing myself some freedom to make changes to the design or play with the idea of what makes a kitten a kitten, I can keep it fresh and fun for myself and hopefully the audience as well.
Anything else that you would like the readers to know?
Y’all keep hunting, I’ll keep hiding.
Link to Catlanta’s website: https://www.catlanta.net/
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