Ion Peia was born in 1990 and raised in Severin, Romania. His early interest in imagery began with his grandfather's film photography and quilt pattern books, and throughout primary and secondary school he was always the one who could draw.

He turned his focus to drawing and painting around 2011, shortly after completing the Interior Design undergraduate program at the University of Arts and Design in Timișoara, Romania.

Ion has always been curious about how images imprint themselves on memory and become permanent, some so visceral they stay with us for a lifetime. His work centers on the study of the human, and on why certain faces, figures, and the feelings they evoke remain so vivid in our minds.