Last week, the Saatchi Gallery opened their latest exhibition by Caroline Wong, titled Girls Who Devour. In this exhibition, the British-Malaysian-Chinese artist incorporates themes of femininity, bringing cats and food as symbols to challenge female autonomy and pleasure beyond society’s expectations.

Displayed at the gallery are works from her series Cats and Girls, Hungry Women and Picnics and Parties. Her female subjects are drawn with charcoal, oil pastels, oil and acrylic paints on coloured paper or canvas. Save from the odd dining table, each piece depicts a shared meal between the women and felines, who sit together with drinks in hand or sharing plates of food. Her subjects scoop bites with their hands, leisurely sprawl their bodies next to sleeping cats and lunge for a plate of food, guarding their meal on all fours and swatting oncoming hands. There is no decorum in these feasts and picnics, and female pleasure here is sensual, sloppy and gluttonous.

Wong’s bright colours and dynamic poses craft unsettling compositions as women interact with one another or lay with cats. Unlike traditional portraiture, the women aren’t posed or rehearsed to look presentable as their enjoyment is visible in big gestures and facial expressions. Sketched out lines of pastel and charcoal disappear the further you step away from each piece, but the vibrant hues of clothing or dishes remain. 

This pleasure borders on unease, as Wong’s subjects surrender to the food. The oil and charcoal piece titled Japanese Breakfast (2023) portrays the feasting women on all fours, feline-like as one sinks her teeth into a piece of fish. Half-eaten dishes are discarded in the corner of the orange paper, with cats observing the scene of the women. In Feast of Fools (2025), a woman crawls on the dining table while one eats underneath it, with cats following suit. Spilling drinks and dropping plates, Wong illustrates voracity with her subjects with an element of vulnerability as the women are on the edge of losing control.

Wong’s work highlights consumption and, in the digital age, performance. Taking from mukbang eating videos and social media sensationalism, she debates the objectification of her feasting subjects. While the internet rewards clickbait and exaggerated headlines, Wong’s artworks mirror the lengths creators go through to stay afloat in an oversaturated algorithm. 

To conclude, his exhibition is a wonderful insight to society’s scrutiny of women’s appearance and autonomy. Wong also expresses an element of community, with the women losing control of their desires and making such a vulnerable act empowering when done together. 

Girls who Devour is exhibiting at Saatchi Gallery until 6 May 2026, and is free entry. All images courtesy of the artist and Saatchi Gallery.