Kiki Valdes was born in Miami, FL. He attended the New World School of the Arts high school along with other ambitious classmates Jessica Sutta of Pussycat Dolls and paper artist Jen Stark. He later attended Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland. During this time he published with his brother Humby a punk rock, culture and humor underground zine called OpenZine, a site where anyone can publish web magazines. During the evenings Kiki would paint in his studio and later on pass out the newsprint publication at mostly punk venues in New York and Churchill's in the inner city of Miami. Kiki has securely pitched his tent at the sharpest end of the cutting edge.