British figurative painter Jo Hay is widely known for large-scale paintings that exploresexuality, gender, and identity, as in her self-portrait Dodger which placed as a semi-finalist in the 2015 BP Portrait Award. Hay is fascinated by human psychological andbiological perception of gender, and her interest in subjects with both male and femalecharacteristics was first inspired by the glittering androgyny of British glam rockmusicians in the nineteen-seventies. RABBIT HABIT marks a departure from these portraits; it showcases new works ina series that Hay has continued to explore since graduate school at the New YorkAcademy of Art. “I initially imagined the rabbit paintings would be purelyexperimental,” she says of her first examples painted in 2010, calling them a reaction tolong hours studying traditional figurative painting. “I very quickly realized that they areequally relevant portraits in themselves.”Hay calls the rabbits an exercise in finding new ways to construct figures. They help herto deal purely with form, space, and anatomy, and she closely considers each animal’spersonality differences to make every painting unique. Rabbits also have powerfulsymbolic associations for Hay. “I see traits of the rabbit personality in my own,especially when making paintings. I relate to their alert, edgy energy and the constantvigilance required to always remain nimble enough to get in and out of fluctuatingsituations.” Hay’s dynamic painting style incorporates a range of marks made with different sizedbrushes and tools, which lends a charged air of activity to her canvases. In her ownwords, “Presenting a full range of calligraphic difference in painting is like playing with afull orchestra. Imagine hearing a symphony played on a single violin!” The same can besaid of her color choices, which are clean mixes. She only uses primary colors and white,maintaining firm control over relationships between hues. The result is an oftenunexpected meld of shades, where grey and brown rabbits are articulated in swatchesand swirls of lavender, moss, peach, and persimmon. The portraits in RABBIT HABIT pulse with life. “I have found when painting livingcreatures that there is an alchemical moment that can occur usually in the middle of thepainting,” Hay muses. “It is no longer just a set of particular paint marks but instead theimage suddenly feels alive to the point that I experience a quietly disarming sense of ittaking a breath.”