Natalie Karpushenko "Rebirth of Woman"
Natalie Karpushenko "Rebirth of Woman" 2020
Photography, Archival Fine Art Print, Hahnemühle Photo Rag Paper, Mounted and Framed
Dimensions: 30 × 40 inches, Framed 32 x 42 inches
Limited Edition 4 of 20
Signed on verso, includes a signed certificate of authenticity
Natalie Karpushenko is an award-winning Kazakhstan-born photographer, filmmaker, and environmental artist whose work explores the profound relationship between humanity, nature, and the ocean. Through ethereal photographic compositions that merge reality and myth, she examines themes of environmental stewardship, feminine strength, transformation, and humanity's connection to the natural world.
Known for her immersive imagery and distinctive visual language, Karpushenko creates photographs that blur the boundaries between the human figure and the landscape. Inspired by women, wildlife, and elemental environments, her work is rooted in a philosophy of reconnection with nature and often centers on water as both a symbolic and literal source of life. Working exclusively in natural environments, Karpushenko creates photographs that are entirely real—without the use of AI-generated imagery or digital manipulation. Her work is rooted in direct experience, transforming authentic encounters with nature into images that feel both extraordinary and deeply human.
An avid freediver and ocean conservation advocate, Karpushenko frequently works in remote marine environments and has spent years photographing and swimming alongside whales and other marine life. These experiences directly inform her artistic practice and ongoing exploration of the relationship between humans and the natural world.
Karpushenko has exhibited internationally throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. Her solo exhibitions include “Where Dreams May Come” at Costello Carlo V, Monopoli, Italy (2024); “Ocean Breath” at Drifter, Bali, Indonesia (2023); “Ground Seesaw” in Seoul, South Korea (2022–2023); “Rising Woman” in Bali, Indonesia (2020–2021); and “Dancers” at ForteBank Kulanshi Art Space, Astana, Kazakhstan (2019). Her landmark exhibition “Ground Seesaw” attracted more than 117,000 visitors and featured over 200 works across more than 1,000 square meters of exhibition space.
In 2025, her film “Water Drop” was presented at Lincoln Center in New York. She also contributed imagery for a large-scale mural inspired by United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the UN Decade of Ocean Science, supporting global awareness around ocean conservation.
Her work has received numerous international distinctions, including First Prize in the SUGi x NAVA Photo Contest in the “People & Nature” category (2025), Professional Winner at the Fine Art Photography Awards for “Planet of Garbage” (2020), recognition from the PH Museum Project for “Plastic and the Sea” (2019), and First Place in the Gold Star Award for “A Human and a Force of Nature” (2019).
Her work has been featured in leading international publications including Vogue France, Vogue Germany, Harper's Bazaar, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Nowness, Forbes Russia, Esquire, and Saatchi Online. In 2026, she was selected as the recipient of The Untitled Space Solo Exhibition Open Call Award, leading to her debut solo exhibition in the United States at The Untitled Space in New York.
Artist Statement:
“My ideas start from nature and take shape when I add a human into the environment. 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. I may swim through plastic in the ocean and wonder how it feels to be a fish with trash in its home. My art is a result of my desire to reconnect with the natural world — especially through water, the element we all came from. My art is also a movement — to inspire appreciation and passion for taking care of our planet and ourselves.
This series ‘Rebirth of Woman’ is perhaps my most intimate work. Every detail mattered: a strand of hair, the curve of a hand, the position of a finger, the subtle lines of the body. Nothing was left to chance. The project brings together women from China, Japan, Indonesia, Germany, Sweden, the United States, and Russia, united within one visual composition. The search for the perfect location led across eight sites before the ideal reef formations were found. The first day of shooting was unsuccessful — the formations were covered by sand, and the drone footage did not meet the required quality. A second attempt took place exactly one month later. The conditions were extremely fragile, with the work only possible during a short window of minimal tide. The right drone was secured at the last moment, and just before the shoot, rain began and then suddenly stopped. More than an hour was spent carefully positioning each participant. I remain deeply grateful to the women who trusted the process, lying motionless in shallow water among fish and crabs, often in challenging positions. For me, this work symbolizes the rebirth of women across cultures on a single island in Indonesia. It reflects the release of inherited expectations and social conditioning, and the return to freedom, strength, and the natural body. The reef becomes a symbolic womb — a space of origin, transformation, and unity, where individual identities dissolve into a shared presence and a collective intention to reconnect with love.” — Natalie Karpushenko