Where the beauty gets created: at Boris Chayka’s studio

HOW MANY TATTOOS DO YOU HAVE?

I didn't count, something like a few dozen. I can show my favorites, they are on my knees: one and the other.

DID YOU DRAW IT OR DO YOU TRUST OTHERS?

I don't like to draw at all. I'm just doing abstraction, because I don't want to create any plots. How did the classics say, the thought uttered is a lie? In this sense, ceramics are about the same. In tattoos, the plot is inevitable, so I do not draw them myself. Of course, you can make generalized forms, but this is not my style.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR VISUAL LANGUAGE? IT'S INTERESTING THAT YOU STUDIED TO BE A WELDER, AND NOW YOU MAKE ROSE AND TENDER THINGS.

Of course, one can speculate on the fact that the world around was some kind of brutal for quite a long time: I worked as a welder for 4 years.

4 YEARS IS ALMOST A WHOLE LIFE.

I do not regret this, but rather that it was harmful work, which will certainly affect my health or has already affected me. It may be that soft pink sublimated what I lacked. Or maybe it was due to the character: in life, people tend to perceive me as an aggressive person. Everyone who knows me is surprised at the contrast between my character and my work. It seems organic that if your life is rosy, then you do such work. And I behave differently and look, maybe somehow not right.

DID YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT PERIOD IN COLORS, NOT WHITE AND PINK?

By the way, pink is over. I worked with it so much that we can already say “I’ve had enough with you, brother, it’s not very interesting anymore.” It's funny, because now I like blue - like Picasso's. I read and watched a lot about the First Chechen War. I have been immersing myself in this topic for the past three or four years. And last August, I thought that the time has come, and I will do a project about the war. I stumbled across the famous May 1945 Vogue cover and it turned everything upside down for me. And now, when the (there was a word prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation) started, maybe all these thoughts caught up with me, and therefore I’m doing blue now.

TELL ME WHERE IT ALL STARTED? ARE YOU FROM A FAMILY OF ARTISTS?

I'm 28, I started drawing at 19. Everyone constantly asks: "What about when you were a child?" As a child, I did nothing, I think because in our family we didn't use to do such things. And as a result, everyone is somehow connected with this: my sister plays in the theater. But for everyone it was like a hobby, nothing more.

In general, I have a working-class family, proletarians. When I entered the university, I studied welding. Then I met a neighbor on the porch, he was from a party of photographers, creative youth. We watched a lot of movies about street dudes, and were influenced by the film about "Why?". We thought we wanted to do street art too. We quickly figured out that for this it would be pretty good to be able to draw, and I went to study. It was so great! I faced a reality that I hadn’t encountered before: some cool dudes came to the studio of the artist I studied with, and they inspired me a lot. So I decided to become an artist.

WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN WORK AREAS NOW? I SEE YOU MAKING CERAMICS

I have wanted this for a long time, but I began to work seriously in this direction two years ago. Before that, it was more of a craft. I rented my first workshop about five years ago when I was painting. But from time to time I used to sculpt something: I like to try different mediums. And then I even bought my stove this year in order to do it more systematically: I used to sculpt in the workshop of Alisa Gvozdeva, but I came up with endless excuses for myself to shirk. "I won't come today, tomorrow I can't." And now that I have my own oven, I can force myself to work even every day.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO NOW?

I want to work on cement, but I need another room for it. In general, there are a million ideas: fabrics, cement, ceramics. Now I want a big oven. I have a small one - 40-50 liters, but I want 350! To make some really giant pottery.

IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE A CIRCLE OF GREAT ARTISTS IN PETERSBURG. YOU WERE FRIENDS WITH MASHA QUEEN AND ALICE GVOZDEVA WHILE SHE LIVED WITH YOU.

I communicate with them, yes. We often tell each other something: now Alice is painting wooden things with oil, and I advised her to try cold wax and told about encaustics. We also discuss stuff with Masha, we communicate like professionals on some technical issues. Of course, what surrounds you affects you: at least you learn some new ways of working. So I painted with a sponge, because Masha also painted like that, and I thought that I should try it: all of a sudden it blends better. And then I stopped using the sponge.

IT IS ALSO INTERESTING THAT ABSTRACTION IS DEVELOPING VERY HEALTHY IN PETERSBURG.

It is difficult for me to answer such questions, because I don’t communicate with anyone at all, I don’t go anywhere. I live 10 minutes from the studio, I help in one place about inclusion, then I go to the studio, I come home, walk the dogs and go to bed. This is how I live.

WHERE DO YOU HELP?

In "Simple Things". As soon as you and I finish talking, I will go to Masha Koroleva, she is currently editing the “Anton is Right Here" festival. I will also help her with her work.

BTW, WHICH OF THE ARTISTS INFLUENCED YOU?

It's hard to say, but it's like everyone loves Richie Culver. He's an insanely cool dude. And for some reason I remembered Fabre. Dudes just go crazy and don’t worry: just imagine what’s going on in Fabre’s head, how he thinks “I’ll glue everything here with bugs for you now.” Of course, I really like the work with wings - and in general, this whole story is about fun and good madness.

WHAT IS YOUR STORY? ABOUT HONESTY WITH YOURSELF - DOING WHAT YOU WANT, NOT WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM YOU?

Probably yes, but it also grows out of self-doubt. I also started doing art quite late. And now it’s even dumb to talk about impostor syndrome, because maybe I’m not worthy to talk about it! That's why I don't post on social media. I understand that people who buy your work and follow you would like to understand what it is, what is it? But it’s like everything you say is not true. And then there's this: what if they buy my work and think it's cool, not because it's really cool, but because I said it’s cool?

ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH YOUR COLLECTORS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT PEOPLE BUY YOUR WORKS?

If we communicate personally or they buy my art from Instagram, then we get acquainted more or less. For some reason, I remember only one girl, she bought some embroidery from me. And she has such a strange life: she is a clown therapist in a hospice. I didn't even expect that she would have a job that is not the easiest. It was even embarrassing to ask her for money.

I HAVE A FAVORITE ACCOUNT OF A DOG ON INSTAGRAM, ITS OWNER ALWAYS CHANGES ITS CLOTHES TAKES PHOTOS. I WAS WONDERING WHO THAT OWNER IS AND IT TURNED OUT SHE IS A JUDICIAL LAWYER.

By the way, I love dogs, we have two of them. And I remember that when we were hanging out, Alisa Gvozdeva was very surprised how gentle I am with dogs. And I really am! I cry when I look at my dogs, they are so beautiful!