Painter Nina Tichava was raised in both rural northern New Mexico and the Bay Area in California. Her BFA is from the California College of Arts and Crafts. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Tichava is the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award Grant in 2007. Museum exhibitions include the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts; Marin MOCA; University of Science and Arts Museum; Museum of the Red River; and Charles B. Goddard Center.

Tichava’s densely layered, mixed-media paintings depict the overlap of nature and culture - what things look like to her and how they feel. A prominent element of her work is the application of thousands of beads of paint that create screens and patterns. She designates her works as imperfect and this is what continues to engage Tichava in her painting.
Tichava is represented by K Contemporary, Gallery Mar, Laura Rathe Fine Art, Gallery Wild and George Billis Gallery. Her work is in numerous collections.