Old brunch covered with lichens Drawing

Anastasiia Morozova working under the name "Natura illustrata" is a Russian artist and illustrator living in Apulia, Italy. Her delicate and highly detailed watercolours and drawings are inspired by wild nature, complexity and fragility of natural ecosystems, life cycles, relationships and interdependence between species. Her passion for antique natural history books and the Cabinet of Curiosities concept draws her to create realistic illustrations of plants and animals. Through her artistic practice she tries to stimulate viewers curiosity in the epoch when the humanity thinks to know everything about Nature. Her romantic desire to paint plants and animals like in the old times, “forgetting” about the existence of modern technology, invites to see mystery behind the scientific approach to reality. Animals and plants are protagonists of her bizarre and fairy-tale visual narratives. She brings attention to the beauty of natural cycles, where life and death are ultimately connected through the act of eternal reincarnation, reminding how vulnerable this balance is when facing negative impacts of human activities. Her art was strongly influenced by her childhood spent in a constant contact with nature, wandering in the forests, searching for nature’s treasures, observing birds, frogs, lizards and other creatures. This curiosity was transmitted by her parents and grand-mothers, passionate nature lovers who taught her how to recognise eatable and poisonous plants, berries and mushrooms, and how to respect nature. The influence of Russian folklore, where a forest or any natural ecosystem is a mystical, sacred place where a human being can enter only with prudence and respect is also in the heart of her artistic practice. In addition to creating original art and prints she also does hand-painted and digital illustrations for packaging as well as patters for wallpaper, fabrics, stationery and more.