Bio

Born in China, Shiana Skye Mainarich is currently a senior at Herricks High School, New Hyde Park, NY. Since a very young age, Shiana has visited many art and history museums, sparking a wide range of interests over the years. However, there are three art movements that have heavily influenced her: Surrealism, Manga/Japanese woodcuts, and Mid-20th century Modern Art - specifically modern art with primarily geometric/biomorphic shapes such as the works of Mondrian, Rothko, and Barancusi. The school experience has also served as a theme in Shiana's work, especially in her animation Monday. Currently, Shiana is interested in the artist, Alphonse Mucha, and the voice synthesizing program, UTAU. Shiana has also been heavily influenced by the many hours she spent playing pretend with her friends, causing her work to be mainly fiction and have dream-like elements to it. Through her art, Shiana portrays the world in different perspectives, and allows others to appreciate the world in a new way.

At Herricks High School, Shiana is part of the gifted arts program, STAC. On her own, and through STAC workshops, Shiana has experimented with a diverse number of mediums including: painting, papercrafting, sculpting, drawing, dancing, acting, singing, playing the trombone, playing the piano, composing, writing, and filming. She has directed, acted in, edited, and written four films for Chinese class. She has also performed in the school musicals Urinetown and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the former as first trombone, the latter as second trombone. Shiana has also completed a "365" practice, in which she utilized line drawing in order to draw a portrait every day for a year. Her most notable work to date is her animation, Monday, which follows the struggles and triumphs a student faces throughout one school day. Her current projects involve finishing a Mucha-inspired digital painting and mixing an UTAU cover of the song Scattered Cherry Blossoms -Elegant- Over the course of the coming year, Shiana plans to create short films, create an abstract instillation using paper, and hone her drawing skills in realism.