Sofia Chitikov Sofia Chitikov is a Russian-American contemporary artist. Chitikov was born in 1978 in Tambov, Russia where she spent her childhood before immigrating to the United States in 1992 with her family. She received her BS degree from University of Florida in 2001 and an MBA from Northwestern university in 2012. She spent 15 years working in product development and innovation before embarking on her journey as a professional artist in 2017. She currently resides in Chicago, IL and works out of her studio at Mana Contemporary. Chitikov has participated in multiple group shows and exhibits regularly at art fairs, including NYC and Chicago editions of The Other Art Fair, Art Santa Fe and Red Dot Miami. Her work can be found in private collections in NYC, Washington DC, Miami, Chicago, and London. Chitikov is represented by Contemporary Art Projects USA in North Miami Beach, Florida, and Kontempo NYC in New York City. Artist Statement The style of my work reflects my love for the unexpected. It drives me to push the limits of what can be done with traditional materials and techniques and how they can be integrated in non-traditional ways. My goal is to bring an element of surprise to my work that in turn can facilitate curiosity and exploration of ideas in unconventional ways. Ultimately, it is about opening to possibilities and freeing the mind from the trappings of how things should be. My latest body of work explores connections between emotional states, body movements and mark making.