Secret Lake Print

Asian x Russian fairytales

The first artwork in this series was the one with the kimono (presented on Saatchi as “The Firebird”. While working on the details of the kimono I started drawing a crane but it turned out to be a Firebird. I found it interesting to add a bit of a Russian fairytale to the Asian aesthetic. Then I watched the “Last Emperor” by Bertolucci , and the Chinese outfits reminded me of Russian medieval costumes — lots of red, embroidery, patterns, and fur.

When Collective Memory, an art store in Hanoi, suggested that I create a couple of more illustrations on the theme of Asia, I thought it would be great to combine Vietnamese / Asian with native Russian. It was not so important for me that the elements of Russian culture were read instantly, but I wanted to hide them in the illustrations, "for myself". And that’s how the traditional Vietnamese headdress turned into a kokoshnik, a branch with black apples appeared on the fan of the one who is fairest of them all, water lilies started floating on the green kimono and the golden arrow of Ivan Tsarevich fell on the steps.