Dima was born in the former Soviet Union in 1961, and moved to Kishinev with his family when he was three. He started art studies at age ten at the Kishinev School of Art, and received an award for being the most promising young artist in the school. In 1980 Dima completed his studies at the Higher School for the Painting Arts in Kishinev, and began showing his work at group exhibitions throughout Moldavia. He quickly reached Moscow as well, and two of his sketches were on permanent exhibit in the Drawing Department of the Moscow Film Academy. He finished his formal studies in 1989 at the Lviv Academy for Painting, which his brother also attended.