Prehistoric animals

Were the first clay animals made by humans art? We cannot know for certain. They may have been ritual objects, symbols of fertility or protection, teaching tools, or simply expressions of wonder for the animals that shared their world. Their makers probably did not distinguish between art, belief and daily life in the way we do today.

Femke Hoyng’s clay animals are not copies of prehistoric objects. They are contemporary interpretations that draw on the same human impulse: the desire to give form to what feels ancient, powerful and universal. Built by hand, their rough surfaces and simplified forms evoke a distant past while remaining rooted in the present.

Whether prehistoric clay animals were art may remain an open question. Hoyng’s sculptures are art because they consciously reinterpret that legacy. They do not recreate history; they enter into a dialogue with it, inviting us to reflect on our enduring relationship with nature, memory and imagination.