A young girl with pink-streaked hair gazes out with a wary, defiant expression while a large rat perches calmly on her head, its tail trailing down past her cheek. Pavel Filin builds the face with loose, expressive strokes and unexpected flashes of yellow, green and blue against a muted, smoky background, giving this original oil painting a raw and tender intimacy. The unlikely bond between child and animal makes it a quietly unsettling portrait.