Jul 29, 2022
Ilya Barannikov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, during
politically unstable times. His uncle, a painter who was
critical of the Communist Party, helped his family flee. His family
arrived in the United States when he was seven years old. As an
adult, Ilya moved across the country until finally settling and
falling in love with Hawai’i several years ago. His tumultuous
early life contributed to his deep desire to understand politics,
history, and the philosophies that shape the way people live and
work.
His parents were trained as engineers, but they had to find
whatever work they could to raise a family in their new country;
cleaning houses and driving taxis. Ilya became familiar with life
for the less fortunate, and the experiences of immigrants. His
parents divorced when he was young, and his mother was left in a
new country with three children struggling to pay bills. Ilya
took it upon himself to contribute to his family's living and
took any jobs he could. Growing up in public housing while
surrounded by wealth led to young Ilya learning the impacts of
wealth inequality.
Though Ilya excelled in studies in his youth, his family’s
debts led him to leaving formal education in his early adulthood.
He pursued his first career in design and building. By age 22, Ilya
ran his own successful cabinetry business. When the world's economy
collapsed in 2008, his business saw a reduction of work by over
90%. This led to Ilya becoming determined to find solutions so that
smaller businesses would not be destroyed in the wake of larger
businesses being bailed out by government funding.
After the economic collapse, Ilya spent time focusing on art
and music, becoming a working artist, traveling to over sixteen
countries and creating large art installations for numerous public
events and private owners. He also received grants to install
intricate, educational art throughout the world. When Covid hit,
Ilya returned to more local work within the community, getting
involved with designing low-income housing projects, solar
installations and electro-chemical technology for storing
energy.
Ilya currently runs a non-profit arts-based mentorship
program in Hawaii called Hawaii-Fi, which is now running it’s pilot
program on Hawai’i Island and aims to target young underprivileged
youth and give them access to inspiring local creatives.