Art and Activism
At a school historically centered around a traditional liberal arts education consisting of classic humanities and STEM curricula, more creative communities, especially those within the fine arts, can be overlooked. The Independent interviewed Nikita Ivaniuta ’28, a first-year student from Ukraine who has used his art as a vessel for activism and self-expression.
“I struggled to focus in class sometimes, so I used to doodle in the margins,” Ivaniuta explained, recalling his initial interest in art. He described COVID-19 as a turning point. As he saw those around him struggling with the isolation of the pandemic, he first started taking art more seriously. “I decided to use my art as a way to just make life generally more fun for the people around me, so I did cartoons and funny drawings.” Using these drawings, Ivaniuta created stickers and t-shirts which he sold through a Ukrainian brand. He began donating the revenue from these sales to a charity in Kent, England, where he was attending boarding school. This was only the beginning of Ivaniuta’s journey of spreading joy and awareness using his art.
About a year later, “Putin was making threats about Russia invading Ukraine… So, roughly a week before the war, I came out with a bunch of stickers promoting peace within Ukraine… and then the week later, unexpectedly, the war started, and people bought a lot of the stickers,” Ivaniuta explained. “All the money went to charity to help Ukrainian children with cancer that have been displaced due to war.”
Ivaniuta described his breakthrough within the arts at the beginning of his 11th grade. “I came out with my first solo art show, which is when I transferred into making more art that’s more on paper with materials such as charcoal,” he explained. “I felt like that transferred emotions onto paper way better than digital art or design did.” Ivaniuta raised approximately $20,000 from this exhibition, which went to a Ukrainian charity called Just Giving whose mission is to support underprivileged children in Ukraine including those affected and displaced by the war.
Process and Social Media
Ivaniuta has gained a significant following on his art Instagram, @nyekittt. “My following started growing because I used to draw for musicians that I like. So I basically did fan art in a fancier way. I integrated my surroundings into fan art…how I feel about them, rather than just drawing them.” Ivaniuta has made art for celebrities like Dominic Fike, Takashi Murakami, and Snot. This helped him create a network, and thus gain recognition within the Instagram art community and reach 18k followers.
“A lot of my newer drawings focus on process rather than just the final product. So process is a big part of the general final products,” he said, elaborating on his social media journey. “In my exhibitions, I do projection work of how I get to the final stage… I decided to post that online. And people seem to like the short form video content, and that got viewed by 600,000, 500,000 people, and grew my following.” Ivaniuta uses his social media platform to promote his work, the charity Just Giving, and to spread awareness about the humanitarian crises resulting from the war.
The Fine Arts at Harvard
Turning to the arts at Harvard, Ivaniuta described his experience struggling to get into higher-level art classes but still finding strong support and connection within the community of artists. “I struggled getting a course at all for my first semester. I really wanted to, but all the upperclassmen students picked all their classes before I sent in my portfolios and everything,” Ivaniuta explained. However, he was able to find space to work with the help of upperclassmen friends he made within the art scene. “I just like how supportive the community of artists is here.”
Despite his frustration of not finding space in a more advanced art class, Ivaniuta described the accessibility of introductory courses. “I think there’s a lot of stuff to do for people who haven’t done visual art before, because there’s a lot of cool intro classes,” Ivaniuta said. He also encouraged artists at Harvard to attend and submit art for the Harvard x Yale art gallery happening on Friday, Nov. 22. The deadline to submit is Friday, Nov. 8, and more information can be found on Instagram at @harvardyalegallery.
Ivaniuta further added that while there seems to be ever-increasing student interest in the arts and Arts, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS) department, certain parts of the concentration seem “limited” in terms of space, faculty, and resources. Despite this, Ivaniuta expressed positivity about the growth of Harvard’s art community. “I am hopeful for the future of arts at Harvard.”
Mia Wilcox ’28 (mwilcox@college.harvard.edu) looks forward to learning more about art at Harvard.
Photos courtesy of Nikita Ivaniuta ’28