Hello and welcome!

My name is Paige Tashner. I'm an artist and cat lover in Point Richmond, CA.

I'm so excited to share that  Purrmaid, my fourth large-scale art installation, is heading to Burning Man this summer. Woo hoo! AND this project received a Black Rock City Honoraria Grant. OH MEOW GODDESS!

Illustration by Molly Gregory

Description

The Purrmaid is half black cat (my favorite) and half Mermaid.

She is suspended from supports that secure her body while allowing her tail to swing freely. Her tail is created from formed metal, whether it's repurposed rings and scrap metal or sheet metal, cut to look like scales and painted with an oceanic palette of greens and blues.

The tail glows from within with color-changing LED lights. Her upper body is a sweet-faced kitty wearing salt water pearls and a clamshell bra, sporting a ukulele with strings made from LED strips. Her eyes mimic the motion of of her tail like the vintage Kit-Cat clocks. And YOU can make her move by interacting with ropes, pulleys, and cams.

The support structure/sculpture is created with bent and twisted metal tubing and rod and layered panels of sea life to create the look of bull kelp forests and eelgrass beds.

The top of the support structure/sculpture resembles a flying Bat Ray and houses solar panels on its back. Soothing, water-effect lighting ripples down over the Purrmaid from the belly of the ray.

Dotting the entire support structure are sea creatures - both realistic and eclectic - and playful bubbles, painted with uv-reactive colors and illuminated with black lights. Small doors in some of the bubbles and sea creatures hide discoverable messages. 

The Purrmaid and her bull kelp forest support structure sit on a base decorated to look like a magical ocean floor. The solar power system is hidden in behind a wall of sea grass.

Sizes Rendered by Goose Manriquez

Philosophy Behind the Purrmaid

As a San Francisco Bay Area resident, I’ve been following the efforts to restore the health of the kelp forests and eelgrass beds along the Pacific Coast in California.

​Kelp and eelgrass absorb climate-warming greenhouse gasses, improve water quality, and help protect coastlines from increasingly frequent and severe storms.

​We’ve damaged a lot of our wetlands, marshes and mudflats through dredging, tideland filling and pollution, directly impacting the health of the ocean - and us!

Taking steps to improve and protect coastal habitat, like kelp forests and estuaries, will prevent the loss of these essential ecosystems.

​I want to draw attention to this massive and crucial endeavor and engage with participants about small things they can do to help.

We are part of a living community and are all connected whether we feel it or not. Our choices and actions ripple out into our surroundings.

​I've been dreaming of creating art about environmental issues and I love making cat art. Win/Win!

Illustration by Molly Gregory

Inspiration and Dedication

I'm making art about what, and who, I love.
I love cats! I have 10 - all rescues. I've created two other cat-inspired installation: the Purr Pods (2019) and Trust (2023). Each cat sculpture in Trust was dedicated to someone I lost.

This year, the Purrmaid will have tributes to my two beloved and recently departed cats, Boo Radley and Zoom, as well as an inspirational friend.

Me and Boo

Zoom

Hidden in the kelp forest, I'll have fictional and realistic sea creatures. One creature in particular is the crayon pony fish from the film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I am dedicating it specifically to my beloved friend, Heather Winfrey. She had that tattoo, loved purple, had purple hair, personally rescued hundreds of cats, and loved her friends, family and husband with all her heart. I miss her so much.

Where Do the Contributions Go? 

Glad you asked!
This fundraising campaign will help fill the gaps in the budget.

What does that mean?
It means I'll be able to purchase all the materials - steel prices are going up! - to make the Purrmaid's underwater world magical and strong; get the structural welds certified so the installation can be shared in public; buy new, lightweight solar panels; ensure that I can hire the flatbed trailer to haul the installation to and from Burning Man; and, most importantly, you’re supporting my volunteers with the tools, equipment, safety gear and food to make this installation a reality!

Fiscally Sponsored / Tax Deductions

I've partnered with ArtPush as my fiscal sponsor for this campaign! ArtPush is a wonderful arts non-profit out of Alameda, CA that supports artists and art projects in the East Bay. That means your contributions are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

Your Help

I'm incredibly grateful to Burning Man for the grant. It makes a big dent in the overall costs of the project, covering approximately 60% of the total budget! But materials, build/shop space rent in the Bay Area and transportation to/from Burning Man have gone way up in the last couple of years.

In addition, a percentage of the grant is held for deposit for potential services needed at Burning Man and to incentivize a pristine installation site post-event. That reduces the amount of immediate funding for the build.

So, I'm asking my Burning Man and cat (and cat art) loving communities to help me raise the remaining 40% needed to complete and get the Purrmaid to the playa.

Your support is appreciated in any form whether it's through a monetary gift, employer matching funds, sending over snacks, drinks or lunch for my helpers, or telling people about the project and posting about it on social media.

Please share this campaign with your friends, family and art (and cat!) lovers everywhere.

Thank You

Your wonderful contributions will help cover the costs of building, transporting and sharing big art.

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