I was born in 1966 in the city of Kishinev, Republic of Moldova. Before I went to school, my grandmother and I traveled a lot: Ukraine, Russia, Siberia. My mom was working at a toy factory at that time, painting lips, eyes and red cheeks on plastic dolls, saving money for a co-op. Then after my family had settled in an old neighborhood in Kishinev, I spent ten years at the school that specialized in sports. After I got my school diploma, my first job was at a tractor factory, where I was a machinist apprentice. I quit in three months.

From 1984 to 1986 I served at the military in a deserted area on the border of Kazakhstan and China, Baikonur Cosmodrome, the launch site of Russia's space missions. In 1986 I went to a diving school and became a professional diver, working as a lifeguard and a scuba diver. Almost at the same time I joined an alpine club, and went to Bezengi, a remote region of Caucasus mountains. Since then, I spent every season in the mountains, working as a guide at the mount of Elbrus. I climbed in Crimea, German Alps in Bavaria and Carpathian Mountains. My last job in the Soviet Union was a propaganda painter.

I moved to New York in 1992. Started as a house painter. I studied painting and graphic design at FIT, portraiture at The New York Academy of Art. Soon I began to do murals, trompe l'oeils, decorative finishes, as well as scenic gigs for MTV and low budget music videos.

Member of a Scenic Artists Union since 2007.