Janaina Tschäpe was born in Munich, Germany in 1973 and raised in São Paulo, Brazil. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Fine Arts. Tschäpe lives and works in New York City. Her work explores various landscapes through photography, drawings, paintings, and sculptures, creating an organic underwater universe filled with curious creatures. Water plays a large role in her work, both in its fluidity and how it builds layers, which she extensively investigates in her paintings and drawings. Her art references jellyfish, mermaids, octopi, and seahorses to form a chart of extraordinary organisms inspired by memories, myths, and dreams.