My art influences are a mixture of studying foreign languages, exploring ancient civilizations and meeting people from around the world. These aspects ignite in me genuine curiosity about and love for diversity and culture. Every culture is unique and different, but this is not to say culture is division. Through my life encounters and personal experiences with people from different parts of the globe, I realize that no matter where we live, what language we speak or how we look we share common and uniting human values – Love, Family, Friendship. Living in one of the most diverse countries on the planet, I witness everyday how the communities carry on their traditions, customs and beliefs and how they share them with their younger generations. However, despite the efforts of passing on the heritage and preserving one’s culture while living within another, some original cultural aspects fade away and become lost in transition. This ultimately contributes to the loss of cultural identity, especially for younger generations being brought up in a foreign environment. In my works, I strive to focus on a unique, signifying characteristic of a culture and show it with vivid, bright colors. I enjoy using palette knife technique in my oil paintings that helps to enhance the beauty and uniqueness of the subject. Using bold textures and colors during creation process adds a 3D-feeling to paintings, offering a more complete viewing experience.