In her “Chinese Calendar” series, Ksenia Dolinskaya explores the human need to find support in animal images. The Eastern zodiac becomes a space of psychological realism: strength, caution, determination, and the capacity for intimacy are visibly embodied.

Belief in a patron animal provides a person with an image through which they can understand their own character and sense their potential. By ascribing to themselves the strength of a tiger, the wisdom of a snake, or the power of a dragon, a person taps into qualities they seek to discover and develop within themselves.

The artist is interested in this connection between faith and self-awareness. An animal becomes an inner ally—an embodiment of the strength that a person seeks outside themselves and gradually learns to recognize as their own.