War has come to inhabit the everyday, seemingly everywhere. Over the past decade, global displacement has nearly doubled, and by April 2025, ACNUR reported as many as 122.1 million people forcibly displaced worldwide. Beneath the staggering numbers lies a deeper human question: how can any of these millions of individuals reconstruct a sense of self, belonging, and healing in a foreign land, after losing so much?
Sesaya Arts sat down recently with the Ukrainian visual artist and yoga facilitator Maryna Kaminska, who has been living in Germany since 2022, to talk about her latest series of work, Inner Garden. This work— and the way Interoception through art holds profound significance for those displaced by war—provide at least one answer to the previous question.
Through Kaminska’s language of organic abstraction, Inner Garden invites an inward dialogue, leading viewers into their own interior landscape: to be discovered, nurtured, and brought into bloom. Grounded in the concepts of interoception and non-duality, the series reflects a dynamic exchange in which the external world shapes and affects a person’s inner world, and vice-versa. Everything is interconnected, and just as the natural world evolves, so, too, must we.
SA: How has yoga shaped your understanding of interoception in your art and in your last series – Inner Garden?
MK: Over the past year, I have been studying the method of trauma-sensitive yoga. It all began with a retreat in Corfu, where I met Jivamukti Yoga teachers Yogeshwari and Candida Vivaldi. That experience reaffirmed for me that the soul can be healed through the body, anchoring me in the idea of the non-duality of the world through the philosophy of yoga.
To explain about non-duality, I deeply resonate with the writings of Sri Aurobindo, who believed that spirit and matter are two aspects of one Absolute, and should never be separated. He offered a vision in which unity and multiplicity coexist: the world is not a mistake, but a field for the evolution of consciousness. The body is not merely a temple for the soul, but its material embodiment. In this way, every psychological shift leaves a trace on the physical body—perhaps not immediately visible, but the body always keeps record.
Therefore, one of the core principles of trauma-sensitive yoga is the attention to interoception—the body’s ability to perceive internal signals. Through my practice as a yoga facilitator, I constantly witness how many people have learned to ignore these signals, numbing them with heavy mental constructs, and thereby losing touch with their own bodies—and, ultimately, with their souls.
That is why I strive for my artworks to bring the viewer back to themselves, to their bodily sensations. This has led me to choose the theme “Inner Garden” and the direction of organic abstraction. I want to invite viewers to a deep immersion in unity and interconnectedness, revealing new dimensions in understanding the inner world of each person.
SA: How does your style of organic abstraction symbolize the idea of non-duality and interoception in the series Inner Garden?
MK: Organic abstraction is the use of forms inspired by nature, without representing it literally. Instead of clear objects, there are flowing, rounded, wave-like lines that evoke leaves, shells, cells, water currents, or living organisms. The human figure in my paintings is also part of nature, and I depict it as inseparably connected with the surrounding space. This helps me embody the idea of non-duality and the wholeness of the world.
I love distinguishing between the internal and the external, the private and the public—and I seek to clearly sense where I am, where my space begins, and where it ends. At the same time, I am learning to perceive the interconnection between these seemingly separate structures: how external events affect my inner state, and how my inner state reshapes my perception of the outer world. In my paintings, this principle manifests as well. I divide the canvas into forms, yet these forms interact with one another and unite into a single narrative—a shared experience that unfolds simultaneously without negating its individual parts.
SA: How can your series Inner Garden contribute to people who have been displaced by war?
MK: I continue to live through the trauma of the war in Ukraine. Sometimes, the news from home about the death of friends, the destruction, and the cruelty of people crushes me from within. With this, I have noticed that if I do not plant new flowers in my inner garden, if I do not cultivate light and love, my being begins to harden.
My previous series, When the Sky Falls, was dedicated to experiencing the trauma of war. The new series, Inner Garden, is its natural continuation: I cannot hold up the falling sky, but I can tend to my inner garden and share its fruits with those who need them. This is my form of resistance. I want my paintings to reveal the beauty of human nature to the viewer, and through their own interoception, awaken awareness and love for oneself.
Through this series, I want to affirm that everyone’s inner world is a universe waiting to be explored. And yet, despite our uniqueness, we humans are deeply similar—in our desires, our pain, and the way we exist. That is why I invite dialogue. Through my paintings, I speak to the viewer and say: “Your inner garden is beautiful. It is your compass. Trust it, care for it, and be sensitive to it.” I believe that only through such gentle attention and reverence for our own inner world can a person become capable of empathy and love for another. And that is my core mission—to multiply love.
Learn more…
You can experience for yourself the way Maryna Kaminska’s artwork forges a compelling link between the natural world and our inner landscapes. How the energy of the sun that sustains life externally is mirrored within us—circulating as a force of connection, balance, and presence. How this vital energy moves through cycles of transformation, grounding us in our essence and center, and illuminating a path toward renewal and resilience.
To learn more, visit her website, Instagram, Inner Garden online exhibition and read the article Art Amidst Adversity: Maryna Kaminska’s Journey Through Love and War, published by Arts Help Editorial in 2024.
© Alejandra Jimenez, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2026
