In 2025, I have started a new series: Animals – Feelings & Connection.
In my work, I explore how animals express feelings that we as humans can recognize: care, connection, vulnerability, and loneliness. These are universal moments, like a mother lovingly looking at her children and a sheep looking at her lambs in the same way. By placing the animals in large, open spaces with minimal elements, space is created to consciously and intensely experience these feelings.
My goal is for the viewer not only to see what the animal feels but also to experience it with them: a silent encounter in which recognition and empathy can arise. At the same time, the works remind us that animals have feelings themselves. By making these feelings visible, I aim to raise awareness of empathy, especially for animals in intensive livestock farming, where their feelings are often ignored.
This series begins with a series of small, elaborate oil studies on oil paper or panel. In a smaller format, I can work faster and more freely. They are the starting point of my painting process, in which I explore how best to express color, light, composition, and feelings. These small oil studies constitute both a form of research and a self-contained work of art. Some studies grow into large paintings; others remain small, and that is precisely the intention.
When I develop a study into a larger canvas, I can fully focus on painting the animal lifelike, without having to worry about composition or light. After all, I have already carefully worked all of that out in the small format.
The painting titled “A mother’s love and security II” is also featured on my Christmas card. The front shows a detail of the painting, and the back displays the complete artwork.
Alexandra Klimas
