About This Project

Karen Yurkovich

Studio Visit

Karen Yurkovich is a Canadian artist working between Vancouver and Florence, Italy. Her work approaches nature through the cultural, political, and social aspects which define our relationship to it. Through painting, installation and sculpture she explores varied themes such as native and immigrant plants, bonsai, still life genre painting of the 16th century, GMOs, the use of plants in medicine and culinary practices, issues of biodiversity, and the symbolic role of plants within different cultures. These themes are approached through a play of both visual and textual narratives. She defined and implemented the MFA in Studio Art at Studio Art Centers International, Florence, as well as directing and teaching in the program from 2013-16 and continues to teach at Emily Carr University in Vancouver.

Yurkovich’s work has been shown extensively in North America and Europe, and can be found in both private and public collections including the Bill Gates Foundation, Unicredit Bank, Italy, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Cy and Lissa Wagner Collection, Texas. She is represented by Studio d’Arte Raffaelli, Trento, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, and Bugera Matheson Gallery, Edmonton.

image details: Studio installation with My Cerebral Relationship, oil and pigment on linen, 160 x 130 cm., 2015, various other works including paintings, sculptures and fibre works.