ABOUT THE ARTIST
Andrew Osta was born 1982 in Kiev Ukraine. In 1994 his family immigrated to Canada, but his Ukrainian heritage was always something he treasured and tried to preserve. His earliest paintings had unconscious elements of Russian Orthodox iconography. He did not study art, but received a double major in Philosophy and Computer Science from the prestigious University of Toronto. However the call to make art was so powerful that it could simply not be ignored. In 2005 Osta turned to making art part time. Within two years, he had shown his acrylic and pastel paintings in Canada, USA, Mexico, and South Korea. In 2009, he quit his job as an assistant art therapist to make art full time.
Although initially rejected by his immediate family, Osta was called “a Surrealist Genius” in 2005 by the founder of SurrealismNow.com. The images below are from this period. These are some of the artist’s first drawings, first pastel paintings, and first acrylic painting. All were done with absolutely no knowledge about art, composition, materials, or color theory.
In 2008, Osta was among the founders of the first ever “Healing and Counseling Through Art” program in Canada. He worked with refugee youth, helping them overcome trauma through art. Later in 2009, Osta moved to Iquitos, Peru to study shamanism with the intention of learning traditional healing methods and integrating them into his art and music. The trip resulted in his first published book, “Shamans and Healers.” In Iquitos, he exhibited with the late master of visionary painting, Pablo Amaringo, as well as other top-tier artists.
In 2011, Andrew moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There he became a close friend of the late Toller Cranston, Canadian figure skater, painter, and writer. Following Cranston’s untimely death in 2015, Osta briefly explored Europe and had two personal exhibitions in museums before moving to Oaxaca, Mexico. He presently lives in San Andres Huayapam with his wife, two children, two dogs, a cat, a duck, a couple of turkeys and chickens, and a whole lot of bunny rabbits.
