Catching the Big Fish. Part 2

Elizaveta Khudyakova began to draw at the age of 11 in graphic computer programs. Soon the symptoms of the disease appeared, so she had to stop for a while. Inspiration returned two years later when Elizaveta unexpectedly grabbed pencils and created her first self-portrait. After a break at the end of 2019, the artist began to work actively again. In 2020, she entered a college in Kaluga, became a nominee for several international competitions and took part in the first serious exhibition.

Mikhail Ardashnikov has been fascinated by history, anthropology and literature, myths and heritage of various cultures since childhood. Later an interest in art also appeared: he was charmed by the severity of geometric bodies, the expressiveness of the black line in illustrations. But the real craving for creativity emerged later, when he dived into art as a self-taught artist. The desire to explore the problems of cognition, archetypal cultural symbols and the architecture of dreams helped him to develop their own system of signs, which plunges the viewer into the whirlpool of mysticism.

Sarah Gertsman experienced mental illness in early childhood. Until the age of 20, she tried to cope without doctors, and then decided to seek help. Months of changing doctors and medicines followed. But now, for several years, the girl has been living on her own. She graduated from the “Free Workshops” School of Contemporary Art and works as a graphic designer. She knows firsthand what stigmatization of people with mental disabilities is, so she openly  talks about her own experience. Recently, the artist herself started conducting art therapy workshops.    

Aleksander Chellak is engaged in several workshops of Studio 6 and creates diverse works, among which there are large pictorial epics, graphics and sculpture. One of the artist's favorite themes is space and the universal mind. Aleksandr had several collective exhibitions, including the 4th Ural Industrial Biennial (2017), and his personal exhibitions were held in Marata 64 art center (2016), Colonel's Workshop Gallery (2018) and KunstVitrina (2018).  The artist's works are in private collections.

Tamara Nikitina participates in the art workshop of Studio 6 since 2016. She also visits a sewing workshop and makes original textile collages and hand embroidery. Tamara is embroidering after drafts of another artist of the studio - Elena Glinina. Tamara participated in collective exhibitions of Studio 6. Her works are in the collection of the Museum of Street Art.        

Elena Glinina works in the Expressionistic Naïve style, taking an active part in all the workshops of the rehabilitation department: she is equally fascinated by textiles, art, theater, sculpture and animation. Permanent participant of collective exhibitions of Studio 6. Winner in nomination “Expressionism” of the of the creative contest of Tsarskoselsky Vernisage Festival in Pushkin, 2018.      

Sergey Fedulov draws from an early age. After school, Sergei entered the restoration college, but never graduated. He began to paint from life, but always dreamed of finding his own special technique. The artist reads a lot, is fond of science fiction, is prone to supernatural interpretation of social collisions. Sergey's style can be called fantastic realism. He also likes to paint animals often portraying his own cat Masyanya. Sergay has been working in Studio 6 since  2018. He is also supported by the Outsiderville project.       

At first, in the graphic workshop of the Anton Tut Ryadom Center, Aleksey Alferyev drew with a pen or pencil, very rarely using paints. Once he painted bright yellow melons - and since then his attitude to color has changed. Aleksey likes to interpret famous paintings, adding noticeable details to them. Collage is one of his favorite techniques. He selects and combines elements of his works, grouping them according to themes and plots: disasters, technology, surfaces, and so on. Alexey prefers contrasting colors and willingly experiments with different graphic techniques (shading, scratching).      

Ilya Smirnov came to the workshops of the center in 2015 immediately showing himself as a talented artist. Most often, he depicts plants - trees, flowers - with confident color control. In 2017, his works were exhibited at the Hermitage: for the exhibition "In Paints Alone" Ilya created paintings inspired by the masterpieces of Matisse and Derain from the museum collection. Now Ilya continues to progress as an artist in the bookbinding workshop, experimenting in graphics and printing on fabric.    

Vyacheslav Mikhailov’s painting expresses the spirit of our time in parables and puzzles with the lightness of a comic book. Vyacheslav is a philosopher, but his philosophical language is volatile and metaphorical. Twins in identical bowlers and black deuces from his "Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Moonlight and Winter Evening" look more like the characters from “True Detective” TV-series. Their similarity is akin to the similarity of two lighthouses from  another Vyacheslav’s painting, reflecting on the problem of difference and repetition.      

Mikhail Gavrichkov was born in an artistic family and has been painting since early childhood. Having mastered various fields of visual arts, manufacture of ceramics and wood painting, he has been participating in art exhibitions since 2015. A detailed description of the world as large collection is the creative method of an artist who is used to work with different and sometimes difficult materials. All these details make his portraits in the scenery of a house or garden, as well as fantastic paintings with colored multi-storey buildings equally truthful.     

Embroidery is a ritual art. The stitches contain a message: a love spell, a wish, a talisman against the evil eye, a curse ... Natalia Astanova's embroidery is also her personal necessity. For her, embroidered paintings are a way to communicate with the world, share impressions      

Still life (nature morte) is a favorite genre of a lonely artist. Melons, grapes, peaches, apples and pineapples are his friends. He can talk to them, tell them a story, and immediately perform it out by placing the model objects. Viktor Suzarev paints paired characters: two pears, two watermelons, two leaves. It seems that at first he painted only one watermelon, and a second appeared on the canvas by itself. Loneliness becomes cooperation, friendship, love.  The artist puts paints thickly, and they glow brighter, as if he were painting on glass. Light overflows the picture.