For Niki de Saint Phalle, animals carry unique meanings—such as monsters and dragons, which symbolise her fears. Indeed, from her famous shooting paintings of the 1960s, created in her studio on Impasse Ronsin in Paris, the artist confronted her inner torment by choosing terrifying animals depicted as dragons, giant reptiles, or dinosaurs. This is exemplified in Tyrannosaurus Rex (Study for King Kong) from 1963, on loan from the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art, in which splattered black paint becomes the imprint of the artist's gunshots. These marks punctuate the body of the Tyrannosaurus and signify the work’s culmination—the slaying of the monster.

Other animals featured in the exhibition include the snake, an ambivalent symbol of sin and rebirth for Niki de Saint Phalle, and the spider, which appears alternately as a protective creature and as a menacing symbol of the artist’s overbearing mother: "a frustrated woman who could barely express herself and who, instead, devoured her family." Among the artist’s totemic animals, some represent joy and love, such as the bird—a symbol of freedom, lightness, and the connection between earth and sky.

Finally, the exhibition aims to show how the artist’s fantastical world often reflects her dreams and nightmares. Niki de Saint Phalle imagined a world not solely dominated by humankind and called for communion between all living beings. She merged the animal body with the female form. Serpent woman, mermaid, or unicorn woman—the woman, like a mother goddess living in harmony with nature, is a central theme in her work. This association of the female body with the concept of "Mother Nature" is evident in her Nanas, such as Jackie (1965), also on loan from the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art.