Back in 2010 when we lived in our little church in Bendigo, Central Victoria we had a little pet rabbit. This gorgeous Silver Marten rabbit has featured in so many paintings but our move to Queensland meant she had to be given to friends as pet rabbits are banned in Queensland.

Owning a pet rabbit here can result in a $44,000 fine or six months in jail. I’ve just looked it up again and the fine seems to have risen to $71,875. However there is a loophole ... You can own one if you’re a magician! I thought I might take a wander down this path of possibility and started the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries application I figured it couldn’t be more difficult than The Australia Council for the Arts applications. After all I just needed to say that the rabbit in Art was more important that pulling one out of hat.

So I began with the History of the Rabbit in Art which was a surprisingly fertile ground to till. Naturally I started with Dürer from 1502 (I know it’s a hare not a rabbit but still) then I discovered Titian’s The Madonna with Rabbit (who knew!) from 1530 and now in the Louvre. I then skipped a few centuries to 2019 and Jeff Koons Rabbit. I added on the application that this piece sold for $91.1 million ... quite the magic trick!

I then had to consider the extensive security measures required to meet approval. I have to admit my enthusiasm was starting to wane at this point and when my then 12 year old son Rothko discovered Rabbit Island in Japan I happily agree to travel there and take photos instead of challenging the bureaucratic world of forms and applications. We haven’t been there yet but I’m happy to have been given a Plan B.

So this painting is a bit of an ode to living in Queensland, the only place in the entire world where you cannot own a pet rabbit. And when at Easter all the digital happy face car speed readers become happy rabbits I am not amused.

There are rumours of a new breed of animal near the NSW border known as a “long eared guinea pig” going undercover into Queensland homes but that may be just an urban myth! – Kate Bergin