Inspired by my childhood dreams and love for the animal kingdom, I created a visual story about a journey to the imaginary parallel world which exists with our own. In this utopian world, other rules apply and animals and humans exist in harmony, although at any moment, things can change for the worse and take us to the other side. I love to emphasize the importance of animal world and nature, as the world to where we are heading doesn’t look very promising.

Animals are shown with elements of subtle allegory, sometimes depicting personified characters, in a world where they are the main protagonists of the story. They create a link between the man made surroundings and fragile natural environment, showing us how life is going on in their world, when we are not looking. They bring harmony and raise environmental awareness, they merge urbanization and history with serene nature, but also show us a different point of view on the world around us.

Animated artwork What Else Is Out There?, edition 1/ 1, 1920 x 2095, seamless loop

Art, video and audio by Nikolina Petolas. Artwork is part of the multi-award winning series 'Tale of the Blue Pear', 'Gentle Giants' chapter.