My name is Alina Shupikov and I am a professional graphic designer and abstract painter.
Coming from a family with Russian and Jewish roots, I have moved to Czechia with my parents in the early 90s and growing up in between two cultures has shaped the major part of my identity. I have always felt temporary in Prague, despite having lived in the city for over two decades. As a child I always perceived Russia as home, with yearly summer and winter trips to the relatives. These were the “going home” moments that faded away with age and more ties in a place where I lived and studied most of the year, but have still left me with a feeling of lacking an actual home and an impulse that I must travel to find some place of belonging.
Three years ago I finally left Prague for Australia, followed by more travels through Asia and Canada. With this journey abruptly stopped by the COVID situation, I found myself again in Prague, feeling stranded for an unknown period of time - and decided to make the journey happen at least on canvas, incorporating sands from all the places around the world. It is a reflection of how the mind searches for just that one safe space - but keeps getting lost in the multitude of options.
Art has always been my form of emotional expression, a way to escape to the perhaps imaginary worlds where the language spoken is universal and purely abstract. Immigrant Soul combines this emotional tumult with a narrative of a journey around globe.
For the design works, please visit
www.alishu.co