I graduated with First Class Honours from Unitec, Auckland, where I completed a picture book and an exegesis on post-anthropocentric representations of wildlife in children's illustration. I am passionate about nature and blending diverse artistic styles to create meaningful, engaging visual experiences. My work focuses on using illustration to foster empathy for wildlife in children through visual storytelling. I have developed and led creative public programmes at a regional museum, organised interactive family events highlighting wildlife conservation, and grown social media accounts to engage children and families. My artistic practice includes figurative and abstract paintings, digital and traditional illustrations, and pictorial storytelling using digital tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate.

Daria Chikurova

PRO

I graduated with First Class Honours from Unitec, Auckland, where I completed a picture book and an exegesis on post-anthropocentric representations of wildlife in children's illustration. I am passionate about nature and blending diverse artistic styles to create meaningful, engaging visual experiences. My work focuses on using illustration to foster empathy for wildlife in children through visual storytelling. I have developed and led creative public programmes at a regional museum, organised interactive family events highlighting wildlife conservation, and grown social media accounts to engage children and families. My artistic practice includes figurative and abstract paintings, digital and traditional illustrations, and pictorial storytelling using digital tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate.

Available to hire

I graduated with First Class Honours from Unitec, Auckland, where I completed a picture book and an exegesis on post-anthropocentric representations of wildlife in children’s illustration. I am passionate about nature and blending diverse artistic styles to create meaningful, engaging visual experiences. My work focuses on using illustration to foster empathy for wildlife in children through visual storytelling.

I have developed and led creative public programmes at a regional museum, organised interactive family events highlighting wildlife conservation, and grown social media accounts to engage children and families. My artistic practice includes figurative and abstract paintings, digital and traditional illustrations, and pictorial storytelling using digital tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate.

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Work Experience

Muralist at Freelance
August 4, 2023 - Present
Creating murals in private and public interiors, including Mobility Dogs (Henderson) and Sip’n’Chill Café (Newmarket)
Arts Tutor at TAPAC (The Auckland Performing Arts Centre)
December 22, 2023 - April 26, 2024
Developing and leading holiday programmes for children in stop-motion animation, doll theatre and live drawing sessions
Methodologist, Illustrator at Vladimir K. Arseniev Museum and Reserve of Far East History, Vladivostok, Russia
August 17, 2019 - June 20, 2023
Creating live illustration during storytelling sessions for family audiences; Developing traditional and digital illustrations video content, and social media materials for children’s educational programmes; Designing projects to promote and enhance public engagement with museum exhibitions; Preparing and leading creative workshops for kids; Producing interpretive illustrations for archaeological and wildlife exhibitions
Muralist at “I’m In Loft” Design Studio, Vladivostok, Russia
October 20, 2016 - September 13, 2019
Producing interior and exterior murals in collaboration with design teams
Fine Artist at Freelance
September 15, 2014 - July 15, 2016
Creating both figurative and abstract paintings of different scales with oil, acrylic, and watercolours
Freelance Muralist
January 1, 2023 - Present
Creating murals in private and public interiors in Auckland, including projects such as Mobility Dogs in Henderson and Sip’n’Chill Café in Newmarket.
Arts Tutor at TAPAC (The Auckland Performing Arts Centre)
December 31, 2024 - August 6, 2025
Developing and leading holiday programmes for children involving stop-motion animation, doll theatre, and live drawing sessions.
Methodologist, Illustrator at Vladimir K. Arseniev Museum and Reserve of Far East History
December 31, 2023 - August 6, 2025
Creating live illustrations during storytelling sessions for family audiences, developing traditional and digital illustration content and social media materials for children's educational programmes, designing projects to promote public engagement with museum exhibitions. Prepared and led creative workshops and museum festivals, curated themed events such as “Happy Larga Seal” for International Seal Day, and produced interpretive illustrations for archaeological and wildlife exhibitions.
Muralist at I’m In Loft Design Studio
December 31, 2019 - August 6, 2025
Produced interior and exterior murals in collaboration with design teams in Vladivostok, Russia.
Freelance Fine Artist
December 31, 2016 - August 6, 2025
Created both figurative and abstract paintings of different scales with oil, acrylic, and watercolors in Shanghai, China.
Passenger Service Agent at Korean Air Lines, Vladivostok branch
December 31, 2013 - August 6, 2025
Handled ground handling at the airport and provided front-desk customer support at the city office.

Education

Master of Creative Pratice at Unitec Institute of Technology
July 24, 2023 - February 12, 2025
Illustration
Bachelor in Interior Design at Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
September 13, 2004 - June 4, 2010
Master of Creative Practice at Unitec Institute of Technology
January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2025
at Educational Platform HEIM.HOW
January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022
at Domestika
January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2021
at Painting retreat at the Outer Banks, NC, USA
January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2014
Bachelor of Interior Design at Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
January 1, 2004 - December 31, 2010

Qualifications

Online course: Finding an Authentic Style in Illustration
January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022
Online courses in Drawing, Illustration, and Visual Storytelling
January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2021

Industry Experience

Education, Media & Entertainment, Non-Profit Organization, Professional Services, Retail
    paper The Fake Beast - Picture Book, 2025
    A selection of spreads from a wordless picture book following an explorer’s journey deep into the wilderness. picturebook illustration wildlife tiger fineart forest illustrator storytelling
    uniE621 Watercolour illustrations for postcard series featuring endemic species, 2022
    illustration watercolourillustration animals illustrator insects birds
    uniE621 Watercolour portraits of dogs, 2016
    illustration dogportrait illustrator artist
    uniE621 Digital illustration for a wine bottle label design, 2024
    digitalillustration landscape winebottle illustrator
    uniE621 Wall mural for a dessert café, featuring playful illustrations to match a kawaii atmosphere, 2024
    mural wallmural cafewallmural cats muralist painting wallpainting artist fineartist
    uniE621 Sea Creatures-themed mural for a boy’s room, 2022
    mural nurceryroommural childrensroommural muralist artist
    uniE621 Illustrations for souvenir cards and bookmarks featuring renowned regional explorers, 2021
    illustrations collage watercolourillustration forest landscape landscapeillustration illustrator designer
    uniE621 Oil Paintings, 2018
    painting oilpainting dogportrait animal artist fineartist
    paper Graphic design and character development for a family-oriented open-air festival, 2021
    digitalillustration characterdevelopment graphicdesign graphicdesigner illustrator