As a child of 80's growing up in Yugoslavia, Vladimir Kato was entrenched in the urban environment. His neighborhood consisted of punks and skins hanging out on basketball courts, political and vulgar graffiti on walls, and anarchy symbols scrawled on every mailbox; a formidable playground to encourage artistic production. His father was a wood carver and first encouraged Vladimir to begin drawing and sculpting at the age of 5. His early influences were Italian comics like Alan Ford, Zagor and the horror comic Dylan Dog. Mixed with a young Eastern European outlook on Western pop culture, movie posters by Drew Struzan (Back to the Future, E.T., Indiana Jones), brands like Nike, Cross Colors, and album covers from Michael Jackson, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden all stimulated his mind. Vladimir's early drawings depicting everything from skateboarding, gun toting, hip-hop punks, to flying, medieval beast men.

After moving to Canada in 1993, Vladimir had trouble adjusting socially. Continuously moving as a youth, he found it difficult to plant roots and meet new friends. Drawing was always a constant. Living in Canada allowed Vladimir to experience different cultures and take from different walks of life. Finding his place in the art world with graffiti and street art, the urban environment from which Vladimir drew his inspiration now also acted as his canvas. At the age of 20 Vladimir was offered entrance in to the Interpretive Illustration and Classical Animation Programmes at the Sheridan College of Art and Design. Formal training allowed him to hone his skills as he drew inspiration from contemporaries like Jeff Soto, Mike Giant, and Erik Brunetti. Since graduating Vladimir has done illustrative design work for several recognized clothing companies and magazines and is currently focusing his talents on animation, working as a full time concept and background artist in Toronto.