Animal Fusion in Dallas: Gold, the Lion and the Leopard Under the Texas Sky
Texas has always had a special relationship with gold. Here, they even gave a name to the treasure that built the state's fortune: black gold. But in Dallas, I have discovered another kind of treasure: a city that has quietly become one of the most dynamic art capitals in America. That is why I wanted to bring Animal Fusion, my collection where the golden body meets the lion and the leopard, to Dallas.
Dallas thinks big, and its love of art is no exception. Downtown, the Dallas Arts District brings together, in a single walkable neighborhood, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Crow Museum of Asian Art and some of the most remarkable concert halls in the country, many of them designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects. Every April, the Dallas Art Fair draws galleries and collectors from around the world. And the Design District, along Dragon Street, has become a destination for interior designers across Texas.
What strikes me about Dallas is its generosity. Its collectors do not keep art to themselves: they give it to museums, they fund acquisitions, they build institutions for everyone. It is a city where art is a shared ambition. I find that deeply inspiring.
It all began in South Africa, in 2012. It was there, in the golden light of the savanna, that I took my first steps as a professional photographer. I remember those mornings leaving before dawn, the silence of the bush, and the moment when, suddenly, a leopard appears in the tall grass and rests its gaze on you. That gaze never leaves you. It taught me patience, humility and respect. Above all, it taught me what presence truly means.
Since then, two passions have guided my life as an artist. On one side, the big cats I love so deeply. On the other, the human body painted in gold, and especially the woman: feline, magnetic, sovereign. For years, these two worlds lived separately in my work. With Animal Fusion, they finally meet.
Lion Goddess, from the Animal Fusion collection.
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From the African Savanna to the Texas Prairie
I returned to South Africa, to Kruger Park, where I was fortunate to stay at the magnificent lodges of Londolozi and Singita. There, nature is not a backdrop: it moves through you. You spend hours following a lioness and her cubs, waiting for a leopard to come down from its tree, watching for the perfect light at dusk.
I photographed the lions and leopards in this collection myself, in the wild, in their own territory. None of them comes from a stock library. Each one carries the memory of an encounter, a suspended moment I had the privilege to live.
There is something of the savanna in Texas: the vast horizons, the golden grasslands, the endless sky at sunset. Dallas has even brought a piece of Africa home. At the Dallas Zoo, the Giants of the Savanna habitat recreates the African plains across eleven acres, with elephants, giraffes and zebras, and habitats designed for lions and cheetahs. Standing there, you can almost feel the light of Kruger.
The lion moves me with its nobility. It is the most social of all cats, and it is the lionesses who lead the hunt and protect the pride, as the Smithsonian's National Zoo reminds us. The leopard fascinates me with its mystery: solitary, agile, invisible until the very last moment, strong enough to carry its prey high into the trees, as National Geographic describes. One embodies sovereignty, the other enigma. Both embody a kind of absolute beauty.
Leopard Fusion, golden fine art photography.
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The Golden Woman, Feline and Magnetic
Since 2016, I have been painting bodies in gold and photographing them as living sculptures. What has always struck me about the women I photograph is their feline side: a way of moving, of holding themselves, of looking into the lens with the same quiet intensity as a big cat in the savanna.
Dallas women have a presence all their own: confident, elegant, warm and fearless, at ease in the boardroom as much as in the most refined interiors. That is exactly the presence I try to capture: the strength of the lioness and the grace of the leopard.
With Animal Fusion, I wanted to make the invisible bond between woman and animal visible. The leopard's rosettes flow across golden skin. The lion's gaze melts into a woman's face. The figure does not wear the animal like a costume: she becomes it, the way a dancer becomes the music.
Leopard Goddess, a very limited edition from a small private collection.
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An Idea Three Thousand Years Old
I am not the first to dream of this fusion. In ancient Egypt, the lion-headed goddess Sakhmet, "the powerful one," embodied both strength and healing. Her statues, carved more than three thousand years ago, are preserved today at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And that same civilization reserved gold for the gods, because it never tarnishes, as The Met explains in its essay on gold in ancient Egypt.
At the Dallas Museum of Art, whose collections span thousands of years of human creativity across every continent, you can follow this ancient dialogue between humanity, animals and the divine. With Animal Fusion, I bring the sacred animal and the sacred metal together for our time.
Real Women, Real Big Cats, Real Gold. No AI.
For me, this is essential. Every woman in this collection is a real person, whom I painted in gold by hand and photographed in the studio. Every big cat is a wild animal I photographed myself in South Africa. In an age of AI-generated images, I want every element of my work to have been lived, felt and shared. I explain this in more detail on my page No AI Art, Real People.
Texans value what is real and built to last, and I believe that is why authenticity matters here. Gold has been worked by hand for millennia, from Egyptian goldsmiths to the master gilders of Florence, and institutions like the Getty Conservation Institute still document these traditional crafts. My work humbly continues that lineage, with the human body as its surface.
What Each Work Carries
- The lion and lioness: courage, leadership and radiant confidence.
- The leopard: independence, intuition and quiet strength.
- Gold: light, permanence and the sacred potential of the human body.
Lioness Fusion, in a modern bedroom.
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Animal Fusion in Dallas Homes
Dallas homes are made for statement art. In a grand estate in Highland Park, University Park or Preston Hollow, with soaring ceilings, sweeping staircases and generous walls, a large golden work becomes the heart of the room. In a classic Texas interior of stone, leather and warm wood, the tones of the savanna feel instantly at home.
Golden Leopard Fusion, one of my collectors' favorite works.
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In a high-rise residence in Uptown or along Turtle Creek, with floor-to-ceiling glass over the city lights, a leopard print brings depth and sensuality. In a contemporary home in the Bluffview area or a loft in Deep Ellum, a lion brings raw power and warmth. In a library or a study, a golden figure brings quiet authority; in a bedroom, a leopard adds serenity.
Golden Embrace with Leopard in a contemporary interior.
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Pairs, Diptychs and Triptychs
I designed this collection as a dialogue. Two works hung side by side create rhythm, symmetry and a silent conversation between the woman and the animal. The generous walls and double-height living rooms of Dallas homes are perfect for pairs, triptychs and monumental formats.
Two Animal Fusion works hung as a pair.
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For larger walls, I invite you to discover the Golden Feline Spirit Diptych, uniting the lion and the leopard, or the Feline Fusion Triptych, created for collectors, hotel lobbies and private residences.
For Dallas Collectors, Interior Designers and Hotels
Dallas is one of America's fastest-growing capitals of art, design and hospitality: the Arts District downtown, the Dallas Art Fair every April, the showrooms of the Design District, the legendary hotels of Turtle Creek and Uptown, the art-filled hotels of downtown, and the restaurants, private clubs and wellness spaces that make the city a destination.
My photographs already live in more than 120 David Lloyd clubs across the UK and Europe, where they are seen by over one million members. I would love to bring Animal Fusion to Dallas: to hotels in Uptown, downtown and along Turtle Creek, to restaurants and lounges, to spas and wellness spaces, to corporate collections, and to the homes of those who, like me, love wild nature, beauty and gold.
If you are an interior designer, an art advisor or a hospitality professional in Dallas or the wider Dallas–Fort Worth area, I would be delighted to work with you: selecting works for a specific project, adapting formats to your walls, or preparing a larger series for a hotel or residential development. Contact me directly to discuss your project.
Discover the complete Animal Fusion collection, with shipping to Dallas and worldwide.
This article is part of my Art by City series. From New York and Los Angeles to Miami, Chicago and Aspen, discover how my gold fine art photography comes to life in the most inspiring cities in America.
Explore All Art by City Articles →
This article is part of my Art by City series. From New York and Los Angeles to Miami, Chicago and Aspen, discover how my gold fine art photography comes to life in the most inspiring cities in America.
Dallas has inspired more than one chapter of my work. Continue the journey through my other stories devoted to the city, its collectors and its interiors.
Door Zack Zublena
