Niko Sayag Vail, Colorado

​

I’m pretty much just someone who dives deep into whatever catches my interest. I grew up in Maryland and had a wonderful childhood surrounded by a big family and exposure to a great variety of different cultures and experiences. I went to film school in North Carolina, where I developed a passion for graffiti and street art, which was relatively short-lived (for legal reasons). At 19, I decided to leave school and move to Colorado to be a ski bum. I fell in love with the lifestyle as I managed ski shops and bars for ten years, getting to spend time with athletes, musicians, and just generally incredible people from all over the world. Eventually this led to opportunities for me to be able to create art for a lot of these people. 

​

What is Art for you?

Art has always been the most comfortable way for me to express my thoughts and ideas that never translated very well into words. My love of art probably started with my grandmother taking me and my cousins to all the art galleries in DC. She would take note of the paintings we liked and buy us souvenir postcards of our favorite pieces in the gift shop. She would take us back to her house to recreate them (usually with markers and poster paint on printer paper), then tape our masterpieces all over the house to have our own “gallery showings'' when our parents came to pick us up. This was the closest experience to an art class I’ve ever really had. Since then, I’ve realized that everything I’ve learned about how to create art has essentially come from staring at work that catches my eye and trying to figure out the techniques used without anyone explaining them. Ultimately it has resulted in my style, which can be described as highly detailed, yet still relatively unpolished.

​

What is chocolate to you?

To me, chocolate has always had a special place in my life. My family would make a trip to Hershey, PA every year over Thanksgiving weekend, where we would take the chocolate tour and just stroll around, looking at the fun Christmas decorations. The smell of chocolate from the factory filled the air throughout the entire town, and that will always be a core memory for me.  

​

What inspires you, and this piece in particular?

I tend to be able to find inspiration in almost everything I encounter, usually somewhat unexpectedly. From films, to advertisements, to nature, to music, to the works of other artists, and everything in between, I always seem to pinpoint elements that I would like to explore in my own creations.