The artist's studio.

Harumi Klossowska de Rola is a sculptor and designer whose practice reflects a profound admiration and connectedness with the natural world. Her artworks are a testament to the wonder of nature, exploring the deep and historic connections between mankind, the animal kingdom and the spiritual world. The natural environment has always provided a wealth of inspiration for Klossowska; growing up in the Swiss Alps, where she lives and works to this day, she was immersed in nature, sparking a lifelong fascination. Today, the wild animals inhabiting the forests around her home still provide the foundation for her artworks, alongside inspirations drawn from creatures of distant lands.

Klossowska's practice involves extensive drawing and modelling prior to the casting process, which takes place in collaboration with skilled artisans, following which the artist hand finishes each work to achieve her particular vision. Characterised by an ethereal and poetic quality that bears testament to her creative spirit, Klossowska's sculptures evoke a sensuality deeply intertwined with the very materials she employs. This blending of traditional craftsmanship with contemporary sensibilities offers viewers a timeless experience in an era witnessing a renewed interest in painting and sculpture.

Klossowska de Rola began her career as a designer of haute joaillerie, and has since created pieces for luxury brands including Boucheron, Chopard, Valentino and Goossens. In recent years, she has focussed on her sculptural practice. Her works are today in private collections internationally, including the UK, France, Switzerland, Italy, the United States and South Korea.

This petite sculpture is a sensitive rendering of the Leptailurus Serval, a wild cat native to Africa that was worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians as a deity. The creature appears to wait pensively, its noble serenity underlining these sacred associations. Servals were kept as pets by high-ranking Egyptians such as scribes and priests; indeed, the artist herself has a domesticated serval, Mandela, who lives alongside her at her home in Switzerland. Klossowska der Rola's daily observation of this enchanting animal has given her an intimate and sensitive understanding of its physical form and attributes. This knowledge has breathed life into this depiction of the animal, with ears pricked to attention and tail curled around its hind legs, giving the sculpture a domestic familiarity that alludes to its long association with humans.

The Ancient Egyptians, with their respect of the sacredness of animals and the animal form, have provided inspiration for Klossowska de Rola across her artistic practice. Works such as Leptailurus Serval II pay homage to the animal spirit that resides in us all and act as totemic entities which, like in shamanism, play a role as true masters capable of creating a bridge between nature and man, the visible and the invisible, the spirit and the earth.