Frog - Samurai Sculpture

Olga Mikhailovna Sagakon was born in 1978 in Russia in the Southern Urals in the city of Chelyabinsk into the family of white collar employees. At the age of 6 she began her studies at the children's fine arts studio named after I. I. Arkhiptsev. She had been studying at the studio for 10 years while attending in parallel the ceramics group; from the age of 12 she actively participated in plein-air practice. From 1993 to 1997 Olga studied at Chelyabinsk Art School and received a degree in Advertising in Architectural and Spatial Environment. After finishing the Art School Olga entered the Metal Art Department of Saint Petersburg State Art and Industry Academy (the best university in Russia offering training in decorative and applied arts), where she completed a full course of study from 1998 to 2005, acquiring the qualification of an artist of decorative and applied arts. While studying at the Academy Olga became passionate about jewelry design, participated in a number of competitions and various exhibitions, and received diplomas and prizes. The brightest victory of that period might be the victory at Carl Faberge International Competition of young jewelers (organized by the Carl Faberge Russian-American Foundation), where Olga managed to get the only prize for the best jewelry design on a given topic among the participants from eight countries. For five years she had been engaged in jewelry design collaborating with eight companies, including the leading Pomelnikov Jewelry Company in St. Petersburg, the famous Swedish Bolin Jewelry House, Moscow Ascor Company, and Japanese YAMAGIWA Company. A new creative life stage for the young artist began when Olga was in her third year of study at the Academy. Together with her husband Dmitry Chebotaryov Olga created the first series of sculptures, with all the works made in bronze. During the period from 2000 to 2015 Olga Sagakon in collaboration with Dmitry created more than 200 sculptures, 30 of them being award-winning figurines for various festivals and competitions. The artist sees her «Metal Zoology» as a special project. Six sculptural compositions depicting animal figures were designed, molded and cast in bronze within the frames of the project. These sculptures were installed at the Leningrad Zoo (St. Petersburg) and have become an honor to the Zoo and favorites of the citizens. Olga Sagakon's favorite theme was the mythology of the ancient Slavs.