Cuando el gato no está
Mindy Solomon is pleased to present Cuando el gato no está, a group exhibition featuring works by Kate MacDowell, Hannah Banciella, and Ella Stouse. Curated by Sophia Ballesteros, the exhibition takes its title from the proverb “Cuando el gato no está, los ratones hacen fiesta” (“When the cat’s away, the mice will play”), a phrase that imagines the hidden behaviors that emerge in the absence of authority. Following the animal figures that populate each artist’s practice, the exhibition invites viewers to consider what critters might do when their human counterparts are out of sight.
Kate MacDowell’s hand-built porcelain sculptures merge ecological awareness with psychological inquiry. In this selection of works, each animal — from the extinct Carolina parakeet to the humble ant — appears with human hands, materializing the allegorical relationships we project onto the natural world. A pair of Carolina parakeets perched on a branch engage in a series of ambiguous interactions, their gestures varying between care and conflict. Elsewhere in the gallery, a trio of ants is absorbed in an animated exchange, their postures revealing personality and social complexity.
It is human nature to project onto the interactions and relationships of animals, a tendency further explored in the work of Ella Stouse as she playfully draws upon traditional fairytales, folklore, and fables to reflect on contemporary conditions. Approaching her work with “symbolic distance,” she aims to channel often distressing themes through imagery that balances familiarity with the uncanny. The animals within her paintings become symbolic stand-ins for human behavior, as seen in the work such as Pigs and Ladders (2026) and Frogs’ Desired King (2026). These works, while addressing systems of authority and hierarchy, also overlap in a space of whimsy and so-called ‘monkey business,’ with a sense of humor at the forefront of these scenes.
Alternatively, Hannah Banciella presents a series of paintings where deep shades of blue reveal the more melancholic sides of animal symbolism. Across her work, Banciella utilizes themes of magical realism to timelessly reflect the pitfalls of human nature. In Devuélveme mi Perla (2025), for example, the artist references La perla de la mora (1889), a short poem by Cuban revolutionary José Martí that illustrates the importance of appreciating what one has before it’s gone. Banciella’s latest painting, in shades of green and titled This kind of stuck is forever (2026), offers a poignant glimpse into the intimate worlds that often exist beyond human attention.
Together, the three artists oer empathetic perspectives on the animal world through literary and personal references. In MacDowell’s words, “when we assign meaning and allegory to the natural world it can lead to its preservation or destruction, but it’s always shaped by the experience of being viewed.” Cuando el gato no está considers the delicate balance between instinct and vulnerability, prompting the viewer to take note in the behaviors and impulses that may or may not distinguish us within animal kingdom.
About the Artists
Hannah Banciella received a Bachelor in Fine Arts from The University of Florida in 2021. Banciella’s work explores transformation, the shedding of former selves, and the creation of new mythologies through immersive installations, drawings, paintings, and ceramics. Selected solo exhibitions include “Communing with Poppies” (2024) at TRAX Visual Art Center in Lake City, South Carolina, “Special Power” (2025) at The Kansas City Artist Coalition in Kansas City, Missouri, and “Can’t you see its killing me?” (2025) at Fried Fruit Art Gallery in Wilmington, North Carolina. Selected group exhibitions include “Cuando el gato no está” (2026) at Mindy Solomon Gallery in Miami, Florida, “Paradise” (2026) at Stove Works in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and “À Mon Seul Désir” (2025) at Laundromat Art Space. Banciella received a MIA Individual Artist Grant (2025), an ArtFields Exhibition Award (2023), and an ArtFields Merit Award (2022).
Kate MacDowell’s hand-built porcelain sculptures respond to environmental threats and their consequences, revealing the rifts and frictions between man and nature. Based out of Portland, Oregon, her work has been shown throughout the US and Europe at Scope Miami and New York, Seattle Art Fair, ArtAmsterdam, Art London, London Art Fair, Showoff Paris, Art Paris, Solo Project Basel, NEXT and Art Chicago fairs.
She was an artist in residence at the Kohler Arts and Industry Program and has had work in group exhibits in the Museum of Arts and Design (NY), Banksy’s Dismaland Bemusement Park, MOCA North Miami and Virginia, Urban Nation Museum Berlin, the Fuller Craft Museum and the Muskegon, Akron, Crocker, Biggs, Everson, Canton and Asheville Art Museums. Her work has been published in books and periodicals including The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Hi-Fructose, American Craft, Ceramics Monthly, Beautiful Bizarre, O.K. Periodicals (NL), Creative Review and Rooms (UK), and Hey! (Paris) among others. Her work was featured on the CD and single cover art for Erasure’s album, Tomorrow’s World and she can be seen sculpting in stop motion in the official audio video for a song on Miike Snow’s III album. She also sculpted individual ‘daemons’ for an HBO campaign associated with the television program His Dark Materials.
Ella Stouse is a painter and printmaker from New Orleans, LA. Her work centers on figuration and mythology, using storytelling to explore personal conflict and contemporary social dynamics.
She received her BFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and is an alumna of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Stouse has exhibited work at Gutstein Gallery and ARTS Southeast in Savannah, GA as well as at Laundromat Art Space in Miami, FL. Stouse has also participated in multiple SCAD Fine Arts Showcases at Alexander Hall. Her work is held in the permanent collection at SCAD. Her work has been featured in Suboart Magazine and Happenings Magazine. In addition to her studio practice, she has worked as a painting monitor at Alexander Hall and served as a studioE assistant to Nicole Charbonnet.
