Sculptor and installation artist Karina Rikun  working with humble, organic materials through instinctive processes. My practice is rooted in Slavic and Ukrainian folklore, where pagan rituals, a deep bond with nature and Orthodox spirituality coexist. This heritage was transmitted to me primarily through the women in my family, not as theory, but through gestures, habits and beliefs embedded in everyday life. It continues to shape the way I approach materials and form. I work by assembling, testing, undoing and allowing forms to emerge rather than forcing them. My process is intuitive and experimental, close to play or automatic gesture, leaving space for intuition, unconscious associations and transformation. I am drawn to materials such as wood, straw, plaster, wax, flowers and vegetal elements. These materials resist control, require care, and often remain unstable or transitional. This vulnerability is essential to my work. Recurring objects such as chairs, benches and vessels appear throughout my practice. Some remain functional, others deliberately move away from use. In all cases, they act as secondary bodies: altars, offerings, containers for presence, absence and projection. By displacing familiar objects from their expected roles, I seek to reintroduce a spiritual resonance into everyday forms.

Karina Rikun (b. 1990, Kazakhstan) is a visual artist working at the intersection of sculpture, photography, and installation. With a background in environmental and international law, she later studied botanical science and medicinal plants at the École des Plantes in Paris. Her work explores the relationship between organic materials and objects, blending abstraction with symbolism.

As co-founder of AlmaKarina Studio, she collaborates with photographer Tom Claisse, specializing in high jewelry photography and still life imagery.

Her recent practice expands into sculptural and conceptual pieces, using vegetal elements and various materials to investigate themes of memory, mythology, and the sacred.

Images and art work courtesy : Karina Rikun