OBJECTS. 'SHIRTS' SERIES.
OBJECTS. 'LINGERIE' SERIES.
In the 80's, Tsykalov's first pieces with wood drew the attention of a narrow circle of specialists in the Moscow underground. But even back then, a line seemed to be drawn between him and the capital's emerging art scene.
At a time when Moscow romantic conceptualism has begun its triumphal march through exhibition halls of both the capital and Europe, ignoring traditional sculptural values, Tsykalov stubbornly labored over the quality and technical definition of his 'woodwork'.
A saw and a hammer are as natural as a brush to his hands, and he wields them with the mastery of a virtuoso. (Bogdan Mamonov).
Underwear — lingerie — is an object to cover our Biblical nakedness, a metaphor for delicacy and tenderness, that turns into an instrument of torture, an object both sacred and damned.
The project uses a marquetry inlay technique. The objects are cut from thin sheets of different wood veneers, torn, and then pieced together. Torn edges, cracks, and wood splinters are used for creating the objects. Subtle patterns are formed out of different stocks of wood veneer. Miniatures with erotic scenes from classical paintings, combined with torn edges and splinters, function as totems that should protect a person from chaos and atthe same time pave the way for his destructive ecstasy, the artist explains.
