Olzhas Issanov

Hi! My name is Olzhas Issanov, and I was born on October 16, 1981, in the city of Karaganda, back when it was still part of the Kazakh SSR. My life began in the era of iron swings, long lines for groceries, and sand-filled gazebos, which we considered our little kingdom. Life wasn’t easy, but it certainly wasn’t boring.

One day, a truckload of sunflower seed shells was dumped in our kindergarten yard. It was supposed to be used as fertilizer, but for us kids, it became a brand-new attraction! I happily jumped into the pile until my forehead hit something hard. It turned out to be a piece of charcoal. That’s when my "artistic career" began. I used the charcoal to draw on everything I could find: the building walls, gazebos, stairwells, and even my friends. My parents, noticing my newfound passion, started giving me paper. But where there’s paper, there’s creativity — I also used my mom’s lipstick, pomegranate juice, and even dust from the corners of our home. That’s how my journey into art began.

In the fifth grade, my mom transferred me to an art school. There, I immersed myself in the world of creativity, and my artistic path continued for eight years. After graduating, I didn’t pick up a paintbrush for a full 25 years. My brush...

1991–1999 Republican Art College (specialization: Advertising Design)
1999–2004 Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering (KazGASA) (specialization: Architectural Environment Design)