10 Questions with Nike Kama
Nike Kama (b. 1979, Aktau, Kazakhstan) is a Berlin-based artist whose work embodies the spirit of naïve painting, driven by an unwavering belief in the transformative power of love, colour, and symbolism. Though not academically trained, Kama has forged her own artistic path, expressing emotions and life experiences through images that radiate joy and positivity.
Since childhood, she has been deeply drawn to esotericism, symbols, and the supernatural. Attending esoteric seminars in Kiev and Moscow in the early 1990s, she learned the language of symbols and their potential to influence life, success, and well-being. These early fascinations now underpin her practice, where signs and figures appear as carriers of energy and meaning.
The decisive impulse to paint came in 2010, sparking an outpouring of creativity. Fairy tales, fantastic creatures, animals, and the imaginative realms of childhood fuel her imagery. Bright colours, playful forms, and her distinctive technique invite viewers into a world of wonder, innocence, and emotional resonance. For Kama, painting is an act of love and presence—she creates only in a calm state of mind, channelling positivity into each canvas.
At the heart of her practice is a desire to bring people back to the carefree joy of childhood, to make them smile, and to surround them with energy that uplifts and heals. Words, which she sees as treasures of the soul, and love, the essential force of life, are constant sources of inspiration. Through her art, Kama seeks to make the world cleaner, kinder, and more filled with happiness.
Nike Kama - Portrait
Her works have been widely exhibited internationally, with solo shows in Berlin and Moscow, and group exhibitions across Paris, Milan, Venice, Basel, New York, Monaco, Zurich, Seoul, Dubai, Majorca, Los Angeles, and beyond. Her paintings are part of museum collections in Russia and numerous private collections worldwide. In 2019, her works appeared in a Russian film later featured at festivals, and in 2025, she won first place at the Dali Moustache competition in Spain, alongside other international recognitions.
Expanding beyond canvas, Kama has embraced digital and applied art. Since 2022, she has been creating animated GIFs from her paintings, collaborating with Kunstkopie.de on reproductions, and designing clothing and household items under her trademark Glückni-ka. Her practice continues to evolve, blending painting, digital media, and design while staying faithful to her vision: spreading joy, love, and light through creativity.
Her work has been featured in publications including Global Art Magazine, Visual Art Journal, Artist Close Up, and Art MUSE, establishing her as a distinctive voice in contemporary naïve painting.
Nike Kama’s constant goal remains simple yet profound: to live and create with love and faith, and to share happiness and positive energy with people across the world.
King of the sea, Acrylic on canvas, 120 x 100 x 4 cm, 2024 © Nike Kama
INTERVIEW
Let's start from the basics. When did you first discover your passion for creating art?
From a very early age, I had vivid, colourful, lively dreams. Then images began to come to me like flashes of inspiration in my waking hours. My father always brought me colouring books from his business trips, in which you had to drawwith water. For me, it was magic. The only thing I didn't like was that the water always went beyond the boundaries, beyond the outlines of the drawing. I didn't like drawing with felt-tip pens either, because there was no space completely covered with paint; there were gaps and lines. I thought it was ugly. I was afraid to paint and thought I would never be able to do it. I am sure that my unique style was formed in childhood, but it took many years for me to discover it. In ninth grade, I transferred to a new school and ended up in an art-oriented class. It was there that I first felt confident that I could draw. My first drawings were made with a simple pencil on thick paper, at home, in my free time after school. In October 2010, I painted my first picture, 'The Dragon of Wealth,' and became a naive artist. I have no formal art education. I have a secondary vocational education. I am a tax officer and accountant. I have not worked in my profession since 2012. My paintings have never left me; they have always been and remain with me in my dreams and in reality.
Dragon with a hat, Acrylic on canvas, 120 x 100 x 4 cm, 2025 © Nike Kama
You were born in Kazakhstan and have lived in Berlin since 1999. How has this journey influenced you as an artist?
Yes, I was born on 26 July 1979 in Kazakhstan, on the Mangyshlak Peninsula, in the city of Aktau, which is located on the coast of the Caspian Sea. At the age of 11, I fell from a cliff and became disabled. Because of my injuries, I could no longer live in that climate and heat. In 1992, my parents and I moved from Kazakhstan to Russia, to the Vladimir region, where we lived until the end of 1995. I still depict this period of time in my paintings, childhood memories of the beauty of nature and animals that were not found in Kazakhstan. What remains with me from Kazakhstan is the sun, the sea, the sand, exotic animals, and the power and strength of stones. They are always with me, too, in my paintings. On my mother's side, we are descendants of Russian Germans. In August 1999, at the age of twenty, I moved with my parents and little sister from Ukraine to Germany. Thus, I said goodbye forever to Ukraine, the homeland of my great-grandmother and grandmother, Russian Germans who were born and lived in Gorlovka and Donetsk, in the Donbas. The journey from Kazakhstan to Germany via Russia and Ukraine enriched me with artistic images, strengthening my craving for beauty and art. In Ukraine, the windows of our flat overlooked a boulevard where artists sold their works of art every day, stirring my consciousness and strengthening my dream of painting. Looking back, I realise that only Germany gave me the opportunity to realise my dream.
Your background includes an interest in esotericism and symbols. How do these influences appear in your paintings?
Esotericism is an integral part of my childhood and life in general. In 1989, my father discovered that he had psychic abilities, which he had inherited from his mother. He completed advanced training courses, received official diplomas, and began conducting seminars to teach people how to help themselves in crisis situations. I was his first serious patient after falling off a cliff. Thanks to his strength and powerful energy, I survived and also discovered my own extrasensory abilities. In 1992, at the age of 12, I became the youngest certified psychic of international standing. We communicated a lot with people who had the same abilities and practices as my father and I. It was a fascinating, colossal experience. Over the years, the knowledge I gained has transformed into a deep understanding of meaning, which helps me understand life, people's feelings and energy. All my paintings are painted with great love; they are charged with it. Energy can only be invested when you create. Nothing comes from nowhere. My paintings are unique; I do not copy them because it is impossible to bring back the time, feelings, emotions, and moment in which the original was created. The energetic fullness of a painting is very important to me. I have a constant flow of images and ideas. My personal strength is love and soul. They are immortal. For me, words are also treasures through which one can see a person's soul. I never say anything just for the sake of it; I do not devalue words. I really love runes. My paintings contain a lot of love, that vital energy. Everything in life begins with love and words. It is the most powerful energy.
Colourful owl, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 50 x 2 cm, 2025 © Nike Kama
Owl - Home, Acrylic on canvas, 75 x 58 x 2 cm, 2025 © Nike Kama
Speaking of your paintings, what inspires you most when creating them, fairy tales, fantasy creatures, animals, or something else?
I see animal or bird-like traits in every person. We are all connected to nature. Each of us has an animal inside us that protects us or gives us abilities. For example, in the Chinese horoscope or Native American beliefs, their names were hawk eye or keen ear. When I look at people, I see or feel which animal prototype protects them. My hand draws fantastic creatures on its own, or I see their silhouettes on the canvas and simply trace them, then give them shape and substance. I love animals very much. It is very interesting when a person utters words and they are perceived with love. That is when magic happens. The hidden meaning of words is revealed, and an epiphany occurs. The meaning of fairy tales changes with age and wisdom. It is simply amazing. I want to add my own vision to the characters. Inspiration and images are always around us; we just need to want to let them into our world. We don't need to look for them. They live within us. I am far from politics. I do not raise issues and questions in my paintings that are superficial and discussed everywhere on a daily basis, and that would be easily recognisable to everyone in the paintings. I am not interested in that. I want to bring only love, purity and beauty into this world, which can save the soul and life.
You often use bright colours in your work. Why are colours so important to your artistic expression?
Black plays a very important role. First, I sketch with a pencil, then I draw all the lines in black. Every line applied to the canvas is important. It means it had to be there. I believe that nothing happens by chance in life; everything is important.Black is associated with the contrast between good and evil and is a kind of boundary that prevents colours from mixing and turning into chaos. It emphasises their brightness, individuality, originality and colour, that each colour, each emotion, each feeling is unique and sparkles and shimmers like a diamond. The area covered by coloured paints always wins over black. This means that all changes in our lives and souls are for the better. My interpretation of the meaning of colours is very simple. Green means life. Red means fire. Yellow always means the sun and light. Blue means the sea and the sky. I believe that we should not complicate our lives with unnecessary thoughts, suspicions, and searches for the supernatural. Everything we need for happiness is here and now.
Pink elephant, Acrylic on canvas, 58 x 58 x 2 cm, 2025 © Nike Kama
The Serpent Tempter, Acrylic on canvas, 70 × 50 x 2 cm, 2025 © Nike Kama
Can you describe your creative process? What atmosphere or state of mind do you need to start painting?
You need to be in a good mood and have clear thoughts. What I love most is when a flash of inspiration and a rush of feelings and emotions arise in my head, and I feel the urgent need to run home and start creating. The work goes quickly, you don't notice time or space, everything is as if in a fog, there is no sense of reality. Since I was 12, I have been practising keeping my thoughts pure, not letting dirt and suspicion into my soul. You can't be half pure or a little bit pregnant. I consider all bad thoughts to be from the devil or foreign, which could have come in on the wind. I don't let them in. I believe that we must bring beauty and love into the world, and that which will help people live, protect them from evil, and warm their hearts and souls. I can always create, but I need solitude and silence. If a picture comes to mind, I have to paint it, because it won't let me do anything else. My thoughts will be only about it.
What materials or techniques do you prefer to work with, and why?
All paintings are created using my own technique, individually, on canvas with acrylic paints. Sometimes acrylic paste is used. My paintings do not have frames. My technique does not yet have a name. When people see my paintings, they always ask how I did it. Some have tried to replicate it, but without success. Many people say my paintings resemble pictures made with plasticine on glass. I still don't understand this.
My philosophy in life and in painting: 1. Everything must be honest, clear and understandable, so the paints do not spread, there are contours, like a person's personal boundaries, as well as the purity and form of the details of the painting. Details and trifles are all important. They are the components of a painting and of life. 2. Everything must be beautiful and well-made with pure intentions, so that there is no shame in one's work. Therefore, the paint must lie evenly and beautifully without gaps, with integrity, both in a person and in the tiniest detail of a painting. 3. There must be meaning. Nothing comes from nowhere. 4. Energy and love have no boundaries, which is why the paintings have no frames. 5. There is no need to complicate anything. Everything in life is simple.
Past, Acrylic on canvas, 50 × 70 x 2 cm, 2025 © Nike Kama
How do you want people to feel when they look at your artworks?
I want the audience to be happy, to return to their happy, carefree childhood, full of love, when they could freely express their emotions. I want people to smile and laugh from the heart.
Do you see your paintings as a way of spreading love and positive energy in the world?
Of course. I paint with my feelings, love and soul. Through my work, I want to convey positive energy to try to change viewers' lives for the better and contribute to their future success. I am a naive artist who believes in people. I have one constant goal in life: to live and create with love and faith, and to give happiness and love to the world and to people. My goal is to spread joy and good cheer. I want to convey positive energy through my paintings, which should change the viewer's life for the better and contribute to future success. I have already received feedback from people saying that after the paintings appeared in their homes, they had long-awaited children, jobs, and income. There must always be faith in life.
Lastly, looking ahead, what are your goals or dreams for your artistic journey?
It is important to me that all paintings find their home and loving families who will cherish them for many years to come.
Artist’s Talk
Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.
