Both curious and unsettling, Kate Clark’s sculptures blend humanity and beings from the animal kingdom in wholly new creature. Using a mix of actual animal hides, foam, clay, rubber eyes, and other materials, the artist explores both history and our relationship to nature with each piece. The Brooklyn-based sculptor’s works have been featured in venues across the globe.
“When encountering my sculptures, the viewer is faced with a lifelike fusion of human and animal that investigates which characteristics separate us within the animal kingdom, and more importantly, which unite us,” Clark says. “The sculptures visually, emotionally and intellectually explore this overlap that exists across cultures, along histories, and within societies. Our current lifestyle does not necessitate physical interaction with wild animals. Yet we revere the natural world and are seduced by characteristics we no longer see in ourselves, such as fierceness, instinctiveness, purity.”
The artist also notes that the creatures “obviously reconstructed yet they are not monstrous, they are approachable, natural, calm, innocent, dignified.” In the end, the sculptor hopes that viewers recognize the human condition behind the eyes of each fictional creature. The artist’s work has been featured by publications beyond the art world, from National Geographic and The Village Voice to BBC World News Brazil.
Since the 1980s, 
British sculptor 
Houston-based artist Ana Marietta paints and draws animals with exaggerated human features to create sympathy for her subjects. Looking at a raven with wide eyes glassy with tears, or a frowning pelican dimpled with warts, one feels the animal's deep sorrow. The creatures appear to look outward however, suggesting their sadness comes from the environment, as opposed to any personal ailments directly. Their anthropomorphic deformities hint at something unnatural, an effect explained only by human behavior and intervention.