Title Unknown

Cuffie moved to New York in 1970 and spent much of his life unhoused in the East Village. Meticulously composed from discarded material, his sculpture ranges from tenuously balanced towers and shrines to processions of objects and theatrical tableaux. Although much of his work was discarded by the Department of Sanitation or the police, his installations in Astor Place and on the Bowery earned him a cult following among artists at the nearby Cooper Union.

This sculpture features worn slippers bearing the faces of a cat and the Looney Tunes character, Tweety. Although cats and birds generally suggest antagonism, Cuffie placed them harmoniously in a wicker basket, evoking a bird’s nest with lace wings—turning a makeshift container into a home and an unlikely pairing of characters into a family.