“Technical accidents are the best part of my art practice. They’re what I’m there for.” Portland painter Tatyana Ostapenko seems really curious about the rules we make for ourselves as artists. She’s always asking which rules matter—in a practical, aesthetic or other sense—or how she can pull new methods into her practice.

She was born and raised in Ukraine, and her work reflects an ongoing deep dialogue with the country and its traditions. Soon after the full scale invasion of the country last year, she began a fundraiser that has so far collected more than $70,000 for humanitarian relief.

We talked about the relative advantages in acrylic vs. oil painting, why she often uses unstretched canvases, the uses of contemporary technology to support a painter’s practice, and plenty more.

Find her work here.