Photos by Damien Milan
Ukrainian-born Australian painter and muralist Nastia Gladushchenko creates immersive, botanical-inspired work that explores our connection to place, nature, and one another, and we felt her and her work were perfectly aligned to feature on our Fall "Beauty in Becoming" issue.
Based in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, Nastia works across large-scale public murals and studio paintings, filling both with layered color, organic forms, and references to the natural world. Her creative path has taken her from Ukraine to Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, and back again — evolving through painting, interior architecture, design, and public art along the way.
What makes her story so fitting for this issue is that it hasn't followed a straight line. Each place, experience, and unexpected turn has become part of the artist she is still becoming.
Learn more and follow her at @nastiagladu and nastia-gladushchenko.com
Trusting Where the Path Leads
Nastia was born in Odesa, Ukraine, and moved to Australia with her family when she was seven. Arriving without speaking English, she discovered early that connection didn't always require words.
Nature, art, and creativity became a kind of universal language — a way to build friendships, communicate, and express herself before she had the words to do so.
That experience still sits at the heart of her work today.
Her path eventually led to interior architecture, studies in the Netherlands, time living and working in Brussels, and a career in experiential interior design. Along the way, a public art elective introduced her to the possibility of taking art beyond the gallery and weaving it into the places people experience every day.
When she eventually began applying for public art commissions, she was awarded the first two projects she entered.
"I realised this wasn't simply something I enjoyed, it was the practice I wanted to build," she told us.
Looking back, Nastia sees those unexpected turns differently now. "It's taught me to trust my intuition, embrace change, and believe that following curiosity often leads exactly where you're meant to be."
Read the Full Interview inside Issue 07 • Beauty in Becoming ~
Our cover feature goes deeper into her path from Odesa to Australia, the landscapes that shape her work today, the difference between creating for a gallery and painting at the scale of architecture, and her belief in art's ability to bring people together. You will love learning more about her path and perspective, as well as seeing more of her beautiful work!
