Ilya Chashnik was born in Lithuania. In 1919 he began his studies under Malevich at the Practical Art Institute in Vitebsk. Under Malevich's direction Chashnik, like his fellow student Suetin, applied a Suprematist aesthetic to the industrial arts. Chashnik immersed himself in a study of Suprematism from 1919 to 1921, developing a unique style. In 1922 Chashnik joined Suetin in assisting Malevich at the Lomonosov porcelain factory in Petrograd where he created hundreds of drawings, studies and models for porcelain all in the Suprematist manner.

In October, 1925 Chashnik was invited to work at the Decorative Institute in the laboratory headed by Malevich where he recalled his experiences in 1927:

In 1925 I was engaged by the Decorative Institute
as a scientific associate of the highest degree. Here
I worked on the development of artistic decorative
forms and created an entire series of images and projects
for the porcelain and textile industries. I was also researching advertising design and executed a whole
series of plans and models, called 'Advertisement and
Poster' which was shown at the International Exhibition
of Decorative Arts in Paris and Milan. I combined these activities with the study of contemporary architectural
forms at INKhUK. (exh. cat., Ilya Chashnik, 1980,
op. cit., p. 19)