Salavat Fidai

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Salavat Fidai
NationalityRussian
Known forGraphite sculptures
Websitehttp://www.salavatfidai.art/

Salavat Fidai (Bashkir: Фидаи Салауат Фидай улы, Russian: Салават Фидаевич Фидаи) is a Russian sculptor who makes miniature sculptures out of pencil graphite. He currently lives in Ufa, Russia.[1]

Career[edit]

Fidai began his professional career as a lawyer and spent more than 25 years in this profession.[2] In 2013, during the economic crisis in Russia, he changed occupations to work full-time as an artist.[2]

He entered art through digital photography, focusing on still-life photographs of fruits and vegetables. This was compiled into a series titled, "The Quiet Life of Things."[3] This series was presented at the exhibitions "Metropolitan History" in Moscow and "Eros: The Times and Faces" in St. Petersburg.[4] In 2014, he experimented with expressionism and impressionism through paint. He created a series titled "The Rainy City," which was presented in 2015 at "The Muse Should Work" in St. Petersburg.[4]

In 2014, Fidai started creating miniature paintings on matchboxes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and grains of rice.[5] Later that year, he began sculpting miniature figures out of pencil graphite. The process is challenging due to the fragile nature of graphite and it is common for the miniature sculptures to fracture after spending many hours on a single piece.[6][7]

Fidai spends between six and twelve hours an average to produce a statuette, while complicated models take between two and three days to create. He uses a craft knife and a stereo microscope for creating the tiny sculptures.[8] At first, he used jumbo pencils with a graphite diameter of 5mm. He now primarily uses lead between 0.5 and 2mm in diameter.[9][10] His microsculptures have featured characters from movies and cartoons, animals, objects from popular culture, comic book characters, famous works of art, household items, and architectural icons.[11][1]

Salavat Fidai's microsculptures have been exhibited in London, Singapore, Los Angeles, Sharjah, and Saint Petersburg.[4] Viewers are often provided with magnifying glasses to view the tiny sculptures.[12] Boing Boing calls his work "an impressive achievement."[13] Deutsche Welle notes that he has a worldwide fan base on social media.[14]

Exhibits[4][edit]

  • Photo exhibition STOLICHNAYA HISTORY, The Central House of Culture, Moscow, Russia, September 2005
  • "Eros, Times and Faces", Manege Central Exhibition Hall, St. Petersburg, Russia, September 2007
  • Exhibition of young artists "MUSEUM SHOULD WORK", Creative cluster "ARTMUZA", St. Petersburg, Russia, January 2015
  • Personal exhibition of microsculptures in LAUNCH! Gallery, Culver City, California, USA, June 2016
  • Personal mini-exhibition of microsculptures in the framework of advertising by Virgin Trains, King's Cross, London, UK, September 2016[12]
  • Personal exhibition of microsculptures and "face" of the advertising company Sharjah International Book Fair, Expo centre Sharjah, UAE, November 2016[15][16]
  • The exhibition Records and Incredible Facts "Titicaca" in Gostiny Dvory, Arkhangelsk, Russia, February 2017
  • "Game of Thrones: A Pencil Microsculpture Exhibition" in cooperation with HBO Asia. K+ Curatorial Space, Scotts Square, Singapore, May 2017[17][18][19]

Sampling of works[edit]

  • The Red Vineyards near Arles by Vincent Van Gogh painted on a matchbox
    The Red Vineyards near Arles by Vincent Van Gogh painted on a matchbox
  • Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer painted on a pumpkin seed
    Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer painted on a pumpkin seed
  • Bedroom in Arles by Van Gogh painted on a matchbox
    Bedroom in Arles by Van Gogh painted on a matchbox
  • Characters sculpted from pencil graphite
    Characters sculpted from pencil graphite
  • Landmarks sculpted from pencil graphite
    Landmarks sculpted from pencil graphite
  • Graphite sculpture of a rose
    Graphite sculpture of a rose
  • Graphite sculptures of a chair with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
    Graphite sculptures of a chair with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
  • Graphite sculptures of the Eiffel tower with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
    Graphite sculptures of the Eiffel tower with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
  • Graphite busts of Presidents Trump and Putin
    Graphite busts of Presidents Trump and Putin
  • Graphite sculptures of a lock and key with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
    Graphite sculptures of a lock and key with 2mm and 0.5mm lead

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The artist who has the world on point". Condé Nast Traveller India. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  2. ^ a b Fidai, Salavat (2016). The Pencilbook. Russia: Pareto-Print. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-5-00028-082-9.
  3. ^ "Behance - The quiet life of things". www.behance.net. Archived from the original on 2015-09-28. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  4. ^ a b c d "Salavat Fidai - Exhibitions". Salavat Fidai. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  5. ^ "Башкирия: Как прокормить семью и не лишиться хобби". u7a.ru. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  6. ^ "Delicate Pencil Lead Sculptures Carved by Salavat Fidai". Colossal. 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  7. ^ "Miniature Art on the Tip of Pencil by Dalton Ghetti". Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  8. ^ Graphics, WSJ.com News. "Pencil In a Micro-Sculpture | The Off Duty 50: Sizing Up Spring's Trends". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  9. ^ "Житель Уфы вырезал на грифелях карандашей 30 фигур по мотивам "Игры престолов"". ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  10. ^ "Game of Thrones - on the tips of pencils". www.todayonline.com. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  11. ^ "This Guy Carves Miniature Artworks Onto the Tips of Pencils". TwistedSifter. 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  12. ^ a b "Media Room & Brand News - Virgin Trains". www.virgintrains.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  13. ^ "Remarkably detailed tiny sculptures on the tips of pencils". Boing Boing. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  14. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche, Ein Eiffelturm auf der Bleistiftspitze | DW | 01.03.2019 (in German), retrieved 2019-03-08
  15. ^ "Instagram post by Sharjah Book Authority • Nov 5, 2016 at 11:26am UTC". Instagram. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  16. ^ "Instagram post by Sharjah Book Authority • Nov 2, 2016 at 3:16pm UTC". Instagram. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  17. ^ Asia, HBO. "GAME OF THRONES A Pencil Microsculpture Exhibition". HBO Asia. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  18. ^ Shevelkina, Julia (2017-04-18). "Game of Thrones in pencil lead". Russia Beyond The Headlines. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  19. ^ "Game of Thrones Pencil Sculptures by Salavat Fidai, Entertainment Videos - SPHRazor". SPHRazor. Retrieved 2017-04-23.

External links[edit]

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