Traveling across cities and cultures, Karpushenko began to recognize what truly held her attention: the parallels between the human body and the natural world. “My ideas start from nature and take shape when I add a human into the environment,” she explained. “I may notice the shape of a rock, and see how it mirrors the female figure. I may see an animal in its wild habitat and remember that we were once wild too.” Her images often feel discovered rather than constructed, moments where form, instinct, and environment align almost by accident.
At the core of her work is not just aesthetic, but intention. Water, in particular, returns again and again, and not only as a visual element, but as origin and memory. “My art is a result of my desire to reconnect with the natural world — especially through water, the element we all came from,” she said. Yet there’s also an undercurrent of urgency beneath the beauty. “I may swim through plastic in the ocean and wonder how it feels to be a fish with trash in its home.” Her work becomes more than imagery; it’s a call to awareness. “My art is also a movement — to inspire appreciation and passion for taking care of our planet and ourselves.”
