KAREN YURKOVICH
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Over the last several years, my work has used nature (plants, trees and their fruits) as the subject matter to explore the workings of the natural world and to function metaphorically for social situations and human relationships. In the series “B.C. Natives and Immigrants”, the plants and trees many times took the place of people, or represented their desires and expressions of identity. This series was followed by “West Meets East”, which used the bonsai ideal to contrast Western and Eastern ideas and aesthetics, and by “Family Trees” which dealt with personal history and social structures. Recently, I have been specifically concerned with the pressures of adaptation, and the subsequent modifications and metamorphoses that take place. Constantly faced with stimuli, we and nature, are put under pressure to react, reflect and adapt. These pressures, whether physical or mental, modify and transform reality. They change the structure of self and social identification. They stimulate activity, which in itself, apart from judgments of good or bad, remains a primary indicator of life.
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