This project delves into the concepts of price and value, exploring the dialogue between nature and human-controlled systems. It raises questions about what lies behind the symbols of material wealth and how fragile financial systems can become when faced with the forces of nature.
Money as a symbol of power and material resources - created and accumulated by humanity - contrasts with nature and its cycles, which form an organic, self-sustaining system independent of economic structures. In this sense, nature, with its capacities and resources, becomes the ultimate value and capital.
The project is a collaborative creative exploration by two artists, Oxana Akopov and Victor Tur, each offering a unique perspective on the interplay between nature and cultural symbols.
Money as a symbol of power and material resources - created and accumulated by humanity - contrasts with nature and its cycles, which form an organic, self-sustaining system independent of economic structures. In this sense, nature, with its capacities and resources, becomes the ultimate value and capital.
The project is a collaborative creative exploration by two artists, Oxana Akopov and Victor Tur, each offering a unique perspective on the interplay between nature and cultural symbols.
Artists
Oxana Akopov (Los Angeles, USA) is a conceptual artist working with symbols and images inspired by American cultural codes. Her art explores themes of freedom, self-identity, and a profound connection between people and their surroundings. By blending elements of photography and painting, her installations convey meaning through multi-layered imagery.
Victor Tur (Miami, USA) is an experimental artist who creates unique spatial installations infused with natural elements. His work celebrates the beauty of life, using plant structures and forms that seamlessly integrate with their surroundings. Victor sees plants as a medium to sow seeds of harmony and inspiration in everyone who encounters his creations.
DIALOGUE between
nature and the systems controlled by humans
nature and the systems controlled by humans
DIALOGUE
between nature and
the systems controlled by humans
between nature and
the systems controlled by humans
DIALOGUE between
nature and
the systems controlled by humans
nature and
the systems controlled by humans
Curator
Julia Sysalova
Curator, Critic- Member of International Association of Art Critics
Vice President of Institute of Mediterranean Culture
Founder of Online Art Communication School
Curator, Critic- Member of International Association of Art Critics
Vice President of Institute of Mediterranean Culture
Founder of Online Art Communication School
The Growth Project: A Social Commentary on Price and Priceless
Drawing on Michel Foucault’s notion of biopolitics, The Growth Project explores how life becomes entangled with financial logic, revealing that both ecological and economic systems follow cycles of growth, collapse, and renewal.
At the heart of the exhibition is a dialogue between two artists from different cultural and geographical contexts: Oxana Akopov (Los Angeles) and Victor Tur (Miami). Akopov works with symbols of American culture and identity, reimagining them through a conceptual lens that highlights freedom, belonging, and the cost of transformation. Tur approaches the theme ecologically, using living materials such as moss, grasses, and organic textures to render his ideas physically tangible.
Video works record the transformation of the dollar sign, while installation extends this process into physical space. The familiar emblem of currency appears not as a fixed sign of power but as a fragile form subject to growth, erosion, and eventual decay. In this way, ruptures such as the Los Angeles wildfires of early 2026 are inscribed into the work, underscoring that natural and financial structures persist in cycles of renewal and loss, despite catastrophe.
A darkened room, echoing Plato’s Cave, reveals currency as shadow, an illusion of wealth that obscures deeper truths about the foundations of life.
At its core, the project is a social commentary on the ongoing interplay between price and value, urging viewers to reconsider what holds true significance. By placing economic symbols and organic matter side by side, Akopov and Tur create a living metaphor for our time: a reminder that resilience and renewal are not abstract ideals but part of the fragile equilibrium that defines our age.
Julia Sysalova
Curator, Critic – AICA Member
Vice President, Institute of the Mediterranean Culture
Research Fellow, European Communication Institute
Drawing on Michel Foucault’s notion of biopolitics, The Growth Project explores how life becomes entangled with financial logic, revealing that both ecological and economic systems follow cycles of growth, collapse, and renewal.
At the heart of the exhibition is a dialogue between two artists from different cultural and geographical contexts: Oxana Akopov (Los Angeles) and Victor Tur (Miami). Akopov works with symbols of American culture and identity, reimagining them through a conceptual lens that highlights freedom, belonging, and the cost of transformation. Tur approaches the theme ecologically, using living materials such as moss, grasses, and organic textures to render his ideas physically tangible.
Video works record the transformation of the dollar sign, while installation extends this process into physical space. The familiar emblem of currency appears not as a fixed sign of power but as a fragile form subject to growth, erosion, and eventual decay. In this way, ruptures such as the Los Angeles wildfires of early 2026 are inscribed into the work, underscoring that natural and financial structures persist in cycles of renewal and loss, despite catastrophe.
A darkened room, echoing Plato’s Cave, reveals currency as shadow, an illusion of wealth that obscures deeper truths about the foundations of life.
At its core, the project is a social commentary on the ongoing interplay between price and value, urging viewers to reconsider what holds true significance. By placing economic symbols and organic matter side by side, Akopov and Tur create a living metaphor for our time: a reminder that resilience and renewal are not abstract ideals but part of the fragile equilibrium that defines our age.
Julia Sysalova
Curator, Critic – AICA Member
Vice President, Institute of the Mediterranean Culture
Research Fellow, European Communication Institute
The project is presented through biological art objects, photo and video installations, revealing how plants and natural elements integrate into monetary symbols - from currency icons to abstract signs. This process of growth and/or decay reflects the continuous interaction between nature and civilization: as money, an artificial construct, can be absorbed and returned to nature’s cycles, material values lose significance before the natural world. Most importantly, it demonstrates how today, natural resources are emerging as the true capital.
All text, photo, and video materials reserved by Project «Growth".
