August 11, 2016
Art

By: Gautam Balasundar

Photography by Cara Stricker.

THE BIRTH OF PET

“I think everyone can do this, that’s why it’s important to just do it,” the artist Cara Stricker optimistically says when discussing her motivation to start PET, a new platform dedicated to supporting female artists. Her unbridled enthusiasm for the project is only interrupted by a slight disbelief that we’re still talking about supporting other artists or other women as if it’s uncharted territory. “If you give people role models of what is possible, people feel more comfortable just doing that. I just want to support people who have a unique vision and are comfortable with their view on life, sex, culture, politics—whatever it is,” she explains. “And make sure expression and passionate support are easy things for you to do.”

In a way, PET seems like the most natural progression in Stricker’s life. She grew up in Australia surrounded by strong personalities; with an artist mother and gay-rights activist aunts, vocal and expressive were the rules rather than the exception. Throughout her career as a musician, photographer, and director, she has also become a sort of magnet for other creatives, bolstered by her inclination to collaborate. But like many others, her experience in the creative world formed a desire to bring more compelling female voices forward “just so it can be as strong a system as everything in the world,” she says. Inspired by “women who really express that individualistic and strong vocation that the collective aspires to bring itself up in,” she and web designer/musician Madeline O’Moore created PET to allow more perspectives to enter the conversation. “I’ve always wanted to do a collection of people that you look after and nurture in a space that’s fueled by ideology, in which you can grow and go wild into the world.”

The first showcase from PET is at Williamsburg’s National Sawdust tonight, with support from the magazine Live FAST, and the event strongly represents the collaborative values the platform rests on. Beau, Azul, Margot, and Sonja will all perform music, and they will each select visual artists themselves to create an interactive experience to complement their songs as well. It’s the first of six showcases at the venue, but Stricker also has plans to host events in Los Angeles and eventually globally to reflect the diversity of PET. In addition to events and art exhibits, there’s a website which serves as a portal to both PET as a collective and the individual artists that it’s comprised of. For Stricker, the opportunities that await PET are endless, from discovering new artists online and expanding the collective to partnering with other groups beyond the realm of art. “I think it’s important to question your world and stop for a minute and be aware of what you’re looking at,” she says as she considers the continuous need for changes in the film, music, and art industries. “The more that you bring that attention to people, the more you get people to stop in their footprints and feel human, the more that they’ll think about their place in the world and think about what’s important. And I’m sure they’ll react to that in a way that will want to balance out the world.”

Tickets for the first showcase tonight at National Sawdust can be purchased here. For more information, please visit Pet.cool.

By: Gautam Balasundar

Photography by Cara Stricker.

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