About Shua Raskin

I am 19 years old, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, as a member of the Chabad Jewish Orthodox community in Crown Heights.
 

My art began to take real shape when I was 14, though I’ve lived in an art-minded world for as long as I can remember. Even as a child, I was captivated by nature—by hikes, by birds, and by the awe of new experiences.

From a young age, I also grappled with deep questions about life—trying to understand what things truly are and how we perceive them. Those ideas have only grown more complex and nuanced over time, and they have become an active part of my artistic expression.

Music, for me, is just as close to my heart—if not even closer. Yet I see no separation between art and music. They nourish each other, each one deepening the meaning of the other.

 

Three figures have profoundly shaped my life and continue to inspire me every day: Gustav Mahler, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, known as the Alter Rebbe. Their influence touches everything I create.

 

I am also training to become an orchestra conductor. To me, conducting is just like painting—or even like God creating the world: taking all the elements—sound, shape, color, texture—and weaving them together to create a universe.

 

All of my art is an honest reflection of my experience with the subject. My greatest hope is to never sacrifice my own being for the sake of something that is not truly me.