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ANIKA JOY YOUCHA
anikajoy@yahoo.com

Artist Biography

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knowing early in life that I was an artist, I began drawing obsessively as a child and painting with watercolors in junior high school. My experimentation with acrylics and dabbling in ceramics in high school led me to the University of Minnesota, where I wished to pursue a “well-rounded” liberal arts education. It was in their art department that I discovered the wonders of painting in oil, and have not stopped since. Upon realizing the lack of needed guidance at the University, I removed myself in 2000 and headed west to the grandeur of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Two or three years passed focusing primarily on drawing before diving into painting, but since seriously beginning, I have been unable to calm my obsession. Despite some art education, I am primarily self-taught, having only touched on the fundamentals of art and its theories at university during those first and only few years as a college student. Parents supportive of the arts and family ties to New York made me fortunate enough to have made several extended visits to the city’s art museums as a young person, early on aware of the greatness that existed in the world’s art collection, I realized in my first few years of life in Jackson that my own developing style could not be swayed by the techniques of those around me.

My inspiration comes primarily from a love for the outdoors, and my experiences as a backcountry kayak and rafting guide allowed me to immerse myself in nature. I have a great realization of the need to protect our environment and special places, and often find myself excluding power lines, cars, paved roads, and big buildings from my paintings. Since the relocation of my parents to the coastal Pacific town of La Penita de Jaltemba, Nayarit, Mexico, several years ago, I have made yearly month-long painting trips to that region, documenting in oil my new surroundings – beaches, indigenous peoples, villas, sailboats, and impoverished villages. I have come to feel very much at home in that colorful and beautiful country, comfortable with its spiritual and hopeful people. Perhaps my vision is to show the world that there is beauty in our connections with all people and our environment. My landscapes depict how I feel about a place, about my time spent within it. My portraits are filled with love and compassion and are painted with pride in the subject. My work is filled with respect and admiration for my subjects, from refugees of the Sahara to grandiose mountain ranges.

I believe that my ultimate goal with art is to use it as a tool. I hope that one day I can use my ability to create art to benefit others, be it through the donation of art to benefit communities, or the painting of individuals to benefit themselves. Whichever way, I would like to use my ability to draw attention to the problems that are facing our world, both socially and environmentally.

Nearing the age of thirty, still comparatively early in my art career, I take comfort in knowing that my paintings can only get better, my technique more refined and style stronger. I look forward to the future.

Artist Statement.

With a genuine love for my environment and the people in it, I focus on creating images as they appear to my spirit; wind moving grass, light shining on granite; and the colors that the feel of a place bring to my mind. Being red-green colorblind has always made things a bit interesting, giving me a bit of a unique palette, but I believe that I have found ways to overcome this deficiency, and now see it as beneficial. Despite some art education, I am primarily self-taught, having only touched on the fundamentals of art and its theories at university during those first and only few years as a college student. I have been blessed with the option of painting how I wish to paint, using tone instead of hue in regards to shading and gradient. Combining colorblindness with my fascination with line, its fluidity and ability to divide and segment, my work sometimes appears to come from the genre of Japanese wood cuts. I believe I use strong dark lines because of my need to separate colors, if only to know that they are different. My landscape paintings seem to be missing the “loose” aspect that many painters work possesses; however, its presence is more evident in my portrait work.