Karen Yurkovich’s artistic practice centers on nature and its relationship to culture. Through community-engaged projects, painting, and multi-media installation, she elaborates themes such as GMOs, classical still life painting of the 16th century, the use of plants in medicine and culinary practices, and issues of biodiversity, to deepen our connection to nature and reconsider our ecological impact. Her work has been widely exhibited and includes projects with institutions such as the Beaty Museum for Biodiversity in Vancouver, Canada, and Archeologia Arborea, a biodiversity foundation in Italy. Yurkovich was inaugural director of and professor in the MFA Studio Arts program at SACI, Florence, 2013-16, and continues to teach at Emily Carr University and La Salle College in Vancouver.

Her work 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.