Talian was born in 1979 in Michalovce, Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia. He immigrated to the United States in 2003. On what was supposed to be a short visit to San Diego in 2010, he knew he had arrived at the place he would call home. It was here that he would become a naturalized citizen and discover his passion for painting.  

Growing up Talian always enjoyed sketching and creating art but did not recognize it as a viable way to make a living, instead choosing more pragmatic ways to survive. Struggling with his identity, learning to speak a new language, navigating a foreign culture, and trying to survive alone in a new country was emotionally draining. Unable to express himself well through language and writing, a friend suggested that he try painting in an effort to release these pent up emotions. It was then that he discovered the universal language of art and hasn’t stopped painting since. Within a year he joined The Studio Door, a collective of local studio artists under the mentorship of Patrick Stillman. Being exposed to other artist would be an invaluable experience for him, having been mostly self taught. It was at the Studio Door that he would meet Hyacinthe Kuller Baron, a Master Artist, who taught him how to free his hands from the brush and feel the canvas. Direct contact with the canvas would bring a new level of depth and motion to his work. “Hyacinthe’s freedom was very inspirational. Seeing how she approached her art and the successes she enjoyed gave me the motivation I needed to take the next step on my artistic journey.” Moving beyond his earlier works, primarily of bodies in motion, he began exploring the surging emotions that lay hidden on the inside of those bodies.