In April 2026, I exhibited a series of “bootleg cats” inspired by the neighbourhood cats I grew up with, titled “I don’t own cats but I grew up with them.” The three sculpted pieces were part of TOKONOMA’s all-cats group show, “TOXOPLASMOSIS.”

The exhibition sparked the idea to take the project beyond the gallery and open it up to the public. This led to the creation of BootlegPets, where people can turn their beloved pets into one-of-a-kind bootleg sculptures.