Kristel Saxon

We all have a story to tell. We tell it with our body, our eyes, our posture, even. Kristel Saxon believes that animals do the same. They're trying to share their stories, and they're just waiting for us to look hard enough.

The crux of Kristel's work lies in doing just that. In painting, drawing and sculpture, Kristel's meticulous eye for detail captures the human stories she sees in her animal subjects. She adeptly balances line, colour and texture to transform animals into intensely sentient beings. They lead deeply emotional lives. They can be “cheeky” or “clever”. They feel sadness, joy and dream.

Kristel is one of Studio A’s emerging artists. Since joining Studio A in 2018, she has worked on small commissions with the Props Collective and a series of animals asleep. In 2020, she engaged in a collaboration with Red Room Poetry. In 2025, Kristel was awarded the Liberty Specialty Markets Australia Art Award for her series of Australian native birds beautifully rendered in ink and clay. 

- Words by Sam Kalis, portrait by Scott Heldorf