Salavat Fidai ( ba, Салауат Фидай улы Фидаи, russian: Салават Фидаевич Фидаи) is a
Russian sculptor who makes miniature sculptures out of pencil
graphite. He currently lives in
Ufa,
Russia.
Career
Fidai began his professional career as a
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
and spent more than 25 years in this profession.
In 2013, during the economic crisis in Russia, he changed occupations to work full-time as an artist.
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." This series was presented at the exhibitions "Metropolitan History" in
Moscow and "Eros: The Times and Faces" in
St. Petersburg.
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.
In 2014, Fidai started creating miniature paintings on
matchboxes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and grains of rice. 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.
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
The stereo, stereoscopic or dissecting microscope is an optical microscope variant designed for low magnification observation of a sample, typically using light reflected from the surface of an object rather than transmitted through it. The instr ...
for creating the tiny sculptures.
At first, he used jumbo pencils with a graphite diameter of 5mm. He now primarily uses lead between 0.5 and 2mm in diameter. 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.
Salavat Fidai's microsculptures have been exhibited in London, Singapore, Los Angeles, Sharjah, and Saint Petersburg.
Viewers are often provided with magnifying glasses to view the tiny sculptures.
''
Boing Boing'' calls his work "an impressive achievement." ''
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...
'' notes that he has a worldwide fan base on
social media.
Exhibits
* 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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, June 2016
* Personal mini-exhibition of microsculptures in the framework of advertising by Virgin Trains, King's Cross,
London,
UK, September 2016
* Personal exhibition of microsculptures and "face" of the advertising company
Sharjah International Book Fair, Expo centre Sharjah,
UAE, November 2016
* 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
Sampling of works
File:"The Red Vineyards near Arles" by Vincent Van Gogh on matchbox.jpg, The Red Vineyards near Arles by Vincent Van Gogh painted on a matchbox
File:Girl with a Pearl Earring by J.Vermeer on pumpkin seeds.jpg, Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer painted on a pumpkin seed
File:"Bedroom in Arles" by Van Gogh on matchbox.jpg, Bedroom in Arles
''Bedroom in Arles'' (french: link=no, La Chambre à Arles; nl, Slaapkamer te Arles) is the title given to each of three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh.
Van Gogh's own title for this composi ...
by Van Gogh painted on a matchbox
File:Characters by Salavat Fidai.jpg, Characters sculpted from pencil graphite
File:Landmarks by Salavat Fidai (2).jpg, Landmarks sculpted from pencil graphite
File:The Black Rose.jpg, Graphite sculpture of a rose
File:The Chair.jpg, Graphite sculptures of a chair with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
File:Eiffel tower microsculptures.jpg, Graphite sculptures of the Eiffel tower with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
File:Trump and Putin.jpg, Graphite busts of Presidents Trump and Putin
File:Lock and Key microsculptures.jpg, Graphite sculptures of a lock and key with 2mm and 0.5mm lead
References
*
External links
Salavat Fidai's official websiteSalavat Fidai's sculptures at Beinart Gallery
Indiegogo Campaign
I Turn Pencils Into Miniature Pop-Culture Sculptures by Salavat Fidai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidai, Salavat
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Bashkir people
21st-century Russian sculptors
21st-century male artists