Igor Khrykin was born in 1963 in the former Soviet Union. He is the eldest of five children in a family of painters. After finishing his primary eduction, Khrykin enlisted in the army and he traveled extensively throughout the former Soviet Union and visited the Far East, the Caucasus, Lake Baikal, Siberia, Kasakh, Crimea and Georgia. He observed a multitude of lifestyles and cultures which significantly influenced his art.