Daud M. Akhriev began life in the former Soviet Union, moving from exile in Kazakhstan to “home” in Ingushetia at the age of eight. He moved from Ingushetia to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) to attend the Russian Academy of Fine Art (also known as the Repin Institute), where he studied with Piotr Fomin, graduating with honors in 1991. While at the Russian Academy, he met American artist Melissa Hefferlin. Now married, the two remain colleagues and partners, dividing their time between Europe and the USA since meeting.

”Being an immigrant myself, I feel compassion for immigrants, and people who are ethnically different from others around them. My people were deported by Stalin from the Caucasus to Kazakhstan, along with many other nationalities. I grew up there, appreciating people with different looks, clothing, and traditions. We struggled, being forced from our homes, and we knew that all of us in exile were going through the same thing. We were helpful to one another.

”When I hear immigrants being degraded, it’s alarming to me. I began a series of paintings called ‘Girl From The Other Side,’ and Arrival is part of that series. Arrival is about people who leave their homes and homeland by necessity. Their journey is a solitary one, and they are looking for a safe place to rebuild.

“Forced exile can be hardest on women. Often, people who emigrate cannot carry much with them. Here, in Arrival, the woman has only a piece of cloth, an embroidered piece of her culture.”