Today we’d like to introduce you to Amela Cikota.
Hi Amela, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Going back to the beginning, I was born in 1991 in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A year later, at the start of The Bosnian War, my family and I fled to Frankfurt, Germany, where we lived for the next 5 years. It wasn’t until 1997 that we moved to St. Louis, MO. I didn’t know it yet, but that year I started first grade in the district, I would call my forever home. I remember art being the one consistent thing in my life. I always loved being creative, and my art teachers praised my work through elementary, middle, and high school. After high school, I explored the idea of becoming an architect before officially deciding on art education. I always knew I needed to pursue a creative field, but I wasn’t sure what that would be until I got into the art education world, which changed my life. I got my BFA in Art Education with an emphasis in Drawing from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. While at UMSL, I started creating my works of art. I had always been drawing before, but I never actually created a series of works or thought about possibly doing it as a profession. This was when the painting truly began. I was creating a series of works, Nest Invasion, that connected War and the destruction it creates in our world and how that connected to my own past. This was my senior art series while at UMSL but at the same time, I started making my abstract landscapes through painting and collage. During that time, I also worked as an artist assistant to Artist Alicia LaChance. Working for her as an assistant in her studio was an incredible experience, and I learned so much from her. She taught me so much about what it takes to be a professional artist. We did many projects, local and international, and I had the opportunity to learn how to work with customers, the organization of the studio, everything shipping related, and working with galleries and art fairs. I got to meet many local artists during this time. Being surrounded by all of this opened my eyes to the fact that I was where I needed to be.
After graduating, I started my first art teaching job in August 2017 at Oakville and MOSAIC Elementary Schools. I spent five incredible years at these schools and was able to implement a Teaching for Artistic Behavior curriculum that gave students more voice and choice in their works of art. During this time, I also stayed focused on my art. I had my works displayed in several local galleries, along with a couple of international shows in Milan and London. After this, I got my current job at Oakville High School, teaching 3D Art and Ceramics 1 and 2. I just completed my first year as a high school art teacher and look forward to many more amazing years at OHS. I love that I am currently working as an art teacher in the same district, Mehlville School District, where I started when I first moved to St. Louis. As for my art, I have been painting and collaging more than ever and have returned to several galleries this year.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
There have been many big and little struggles along the way, but this is normal. Things are supposed to take work; the challenges make us question if this is really what we want and if it’s all worth it. For me, it’s worth it. I have learned something valuable from every struggle in my life. Instead of focusing on the negative, I try hard to focus on the positive. I know this may sound like a cliché but for example, going to school for Architecture and then not finishing could be looked at as a huge waste of time and money, or it could be looked at as an adventure chapter in my life that taught me independence and persistence, not to mention that it lead me to the career of my dreams. When I spent a lot of time and money on being part of an international art show and the art didn’t sell, I looked at it as some experience and publicity were gained, but mainly, I learned to be more confident and know my worth. I learned how to adapt to my surroundings while retaining my culture from being an immigrant in the US. Not knowing English when I first moved to St. Louis taught me compassion and understanding because you never know what someone is going through. These are things that I still think about and continue to overcome. I don’t think anyone ever overcomes all of their struggles, but that’s what makes us all who we are.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As an artist, I split my time between painting and collaging. The painting came first. I fell in love with it during my senior year at UMSL. At the time, I was working on my war paintings for my senior series of works. In one painting, I painted a serene landscape with many mountains and clouds. I added explosions all over it, made out of paper that I had torn into gun shapes, and then overlapped to make them look like explosions.
During this process, I realized how much I loved painting those mountains, playing with transparencies and overlapping. So I started painting more abstract mountains and fell in love with playing around with colors, shapes, and those similar transparencies and how they created depth in the paintings. I had also fallen in love with paper. I started collecting all kinds of paper. I loved the different textures and the very natural element of them. I especially loved the kind with visible fibers, petals, flowers, and leaves. One time, while on a road trip, I found rolls of player piano paper at an antique store. I soon realized there was a lot of this all over the more I went to antique stores and garage sales. It was at this point that I felt it all come together. I would take design inspirations from my trips and paintings and create abstract landscapes on top of these player piano paper reels. I loved the connection of the natural papers to the codes in the player piano paper, like a connection between our natural world and our world of technology. My series “Codes” is a collection of these collages. I recently started another series, “Codes II,” which includes punched tape, which I found while looking for more paper types with some code. The punched tape was used for storing data for looms and embroidery or specific programs in early computers. I love playing with this connection between technology and nature which is everything “Codes” stands for. My paintings are more free and playful, while the collages are more thought out and measured. When I create my paintings, I usually get lost in them. I begin by thinking about a landscape from memory and then let go and get lost in the painting.
Often, I will begin painting without a result in mind, and eventually, I see where the painting is going. Meanwhile, with my collages, I have sketches and thumbnails I go off of and think about where I should put each individual paper. I am most proud of my Codes series because it’s unlike any collages I’ve seen before and is a result of my own ideas and experiences.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Even though I paint and collage at home, I love creating with more mediums. I teach 3D Art and Ceramics and seeing the amazing work my students create in the classroom brings so much joy to me. I love that there is a divide between teaching 3D Art during the day and making 2D Art at night. When I am not creating Art, I am either gardening or planning a trip somewhere. I love to travel, and I try to travel any chance I get. As with gardening, it became a passion during Covid, and I started a rooftop vegetable garden, that year. I also started growing flowers, cacti, succulents, and even a terrarium filled with carnivorous plants. I garden every day; it relaxes me and brings me so much joy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amelacikota.com
- Instagram: @studiocikota
Image Credits
All photos of me were taken by photographer Amanda Hurley (not the 2 photos of me in front of art in a gallery).
