I create custom sculptures and miniatures completely by hand. For me, manual work is not just modeling; it is a balance between artistic expression, material physics, and precise calculations.

In my daily practice, I work at the absolute limit of my resources: I use premium Japanese LaDoll clay, design complex internal wire frames, and calculate production costs independently. The HSE Art and Design School opened up a new scale for me — providing an opportunity to see how my ideas would expand if backed by a professional porcelain studio.

The challenge: My journey started with finding the perfect physical base. Working with standard clays showed that finished pieces became as heavy as stone. For holiday ornaments, weight is critical — they bend branches and break easily if dropped.

The process:Material selection: I switched to premium Japanese self-hardening clay (LaDoll). It is a high-end, demanding material, but it loses significant weight as it dries while remaining strong.

Refining: My first experiments were small 7-centimeter figurines of a cat and a rabbit. On these pieces, I perfected a multi-step sanding process with fine sandpaper, achieving a flawless, smooth surface ready for painting.

The challenge: Working with real people means materializing their personal stories into a larger scale (30 cm). The technical challenge was to design complex, dynamic poses while maintaining physical stability, all while balancing material expenses (wire, foil, premium paints, and varnishes) within the final cost.

The process:Frame engineering: To connect large parts securely and reduce total mass, I built an internal skeletal system using wire wrapped in aluminum foil.The cat with a carp: A unique commission for a client who loves cats. I designed a standing character in a jacket and hat holding a fish. To ensure it wouldn’t topple over, I calculated a stable three-point balance using the back legs and a heavy tail.

The musician dog: Created from a family photo, translating the breed through form and color. The real dog wore a scarf, so I sculpted a grey textured scarf. To give the character more depth, I handcrafted a golden saxophone from scratch.

Finishing: After rigorous manual sanding to eliminate joints, the figures were hand-painted with acrylics and sealed with a premium matte varnish for a smooth, glare-free texture.

The Challenge: How to use a rigid, traditional, and unpredictable material like porcelain to capture the fluid energy of West African musical culture and the spirit of the oral storyteller (Jali), avoiding superficial tourist clichés. How to visualize the state of «seeing the essence.» West African culture is rich with myths, yet it remains hidden in mass media.

The message: The artwork is inspired by the symbolism of West Africa. A young griot musician plays the kora. Perhaps he is honoring the memory of his ancestors or building a bridge to the spirit world. With lowered eyelids, Jali sees much more—because «what is essential is invisible to the eye.» The kora instrument: A key motif in West African traditions is the close connection between music and the sacred world. The kora is considered a tool for communicating with spirits, mastered by griots—a caste of professional singers and storytellers.

The moon-mask: I turned to the crescent moon as a symbol of intuitive knowledge and creative power. In many African cultures, a shadow is part of the soul, and in Dahomey cosmogony, the goddess Mawu represents the moon, wisdom, and intuition. Anansi: Inspired by the trickster god Anansi, who bought all the world’s stories from the sky god. The serene griot might be Anansi himself in human form: «There is no story without Anansi.»