Yana Chikiris

I was born in Latvia and spent majority of my childhood in Russia. Growing up, there wasn\'t a lot of toys or playgrounds around so as kids we found other ways to entertain ourselves. My older sister, who is a brilliant artist, was my inspiration. Whenever she painted, I drew. I have always been interested in art but it wasn\'t until I moved to Chicago that I was really introduced to world of art. The city offered it all, music, dance, museums, fashion, festivals and I loved it all. After graduating Columbia College in 2009 I decided to pick up some new hobbies. Painting and snowboarding ended up being the two that I picked. Though I had painted before in art classes, I had never pursued it on my own time. After a couple practice sheets I painted my first canvas and thats how it all began. I love finding new passions, trying new things...thats the best part of life, is experiencing the unknown.